Angela Hook

Creating a Learning Community in Today's World: How Blogging Can Facilitate Continuing Professional Development and International Learning

Blogs are publicly accessible websites that are authored by one or several individuals (Boulos et al 2006). These individuals post regular entries and encourage comment on their work, thereby creating discussion and debate. Preliminary evidence suggests that blogging facilitates learning, assists personal and professional development, and provides an opportunity to reflect on issues raised by others from different cultural perspectives (Martin 2007). This opinion piece is based on the shared experiences of five occupational therapy bloggers from the United Kingdom, Aotearoa/New Zealand and the United States and suggests that blogging has a key role in demonstrating evidence of continuing professional development in a globalised community.

Using Facebook for Professional Networking: A Modern-Day Essential:

Networking is a fundamental aspect in developing a strong professional identity and furthering professional development. This opinion piece asserts that networking is an essential activity for occupational therapists, and that many of the challenges involved in creating an effective network can be ameliorated by harnessing the power of the online environment. By sharing the experience of using Facebook, an online social networking platform, with the specific aim of furthering professional development, clear and tangible outcomes of this being achieved are shown in order to inspire more occupational therapists to connect online for the benefit of the profession.

The development and evaluation of a fieldwork educator's training programme for allied health professionals.

This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a multi-professional fieldwork educators course. The study explored the current provision of such training available to a range of healthcare professionals within the Greater Manchester West Consortium boundaries and the extent to which the core skills needed could be provided within a multi-professional programme. The methods used included surveys, focus groups, rating scales completed by participants immediately following the pilot course, a focus group of participants after three months of the course and a nominal group six months after completion. This study demonstrates that the skills needed by a fieldwork educator can be taught in a multi-professional programme, allowing the practitioner to assimilate her/his skills into her/his own working environment, and outlines issues to be taken into consideration when designing such courses.

Developing Online Professional Networks for Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Students: An Evaluation of an Extracurricular Facilitated Blended Learning Package

This practice analysis evaluates an extra curricular opportunity provided to undergraduate occupational therapy students. A blended learning package was designed and facilitated by two experienced educators, aiming to equip students with the knowledge and skills required to use online social media to create professional networks and facilitate continuing professional development. Feedback was sought on the design and impact of the package, with students revealing an increased confidence in online professional networking. Suggestions for change included more guidance about online professionalism. It can be concluded that the package is effective in preparing students to use the online environment for continuing professional development.

Reimagining Undergraduate Health and Social Care Education: A Workforce Fit for Purpose in a Changing Landscape of Care. A Position Paper

NHS England’s Five Year Forward View outlines new care models and the need for a workforce that has the skills, values, and competencies to deliver this vision. This is a position paper detailing the context, method, and intentions of a Health Education England funded project led by Manchester Metropolitan University in the North West of England, which the authors see as making a key contribution to addressing issues of illness, crisis, and loss in the changing landscape of health and social care provision in England. Using an action research methodology and drawing together key stakeholders from the sector, the project aims to explore the potential for creating a professional health and social care graduate workforce which meets the needs of an integrated service delivery landscape by identifying key issues to be addressed when redeveloping the undergraduate curriculum.

Making connections and promoting the profession: Social media use by World Federation of Occupational Therapists member organisations

Background World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) member organisations comprise 77 national occupational therapy organisations across the world. Each national organisation interacts with its members and the public using diverse methods. Increasingly, national organisations are broadening their communication methods. Objective The objective of this study was to examine if and how occupational therapy organisations are using social media for communication, and if so, the types of concerns or barriers they experience and what role they anticipate social media might play in the near future. Methods An online survey was developed; 57 of 77 WFOT member organisations responded. Findings This study identified that WFOT national organisations are using social media, to varying degrees, with or without an individual formally assigned to manage social media. Respondents reported that they used social media to: communicate with members, promote the organisation and promote the profession. Commonly expressed needs included assistance with guidelines for ethical social media use, developing technical expertise, and recognition of limits of time and competing priorities. Recommendations arising from this research are at the global, national, local and individual levels and incorporate active dissemination and pure diffusion approaches. Taking steps to increase the use of social media could indirectly impact occupational therapy practice through enhancing organisations’ abilities to support practitioners to enhance their practice. Limitations and recommendations for further research Although 57% of WFOT member organisations returned usable responses, there may be some additional perspectives that were not captured. It would be helpful to contact non-responding organisations to explore their social media use and plans. Further research could examine how future initiatives put in place by WFOT impact social media use by member organisations.

A pilot project of the learning experience of undergraduate occupational therapy students in a three-dimensional virtual environment in the United Kingdom

Introduction This pilot study explored the learning experience of four undergraduate occupational therapy students within the online virtual environment, Second Life. The study aimed to explore the feasibility of learning how to facilitate occupational performance in a home environment via a virtual platform. Method A house was developed within Second Life that simulated simple barriers to occupational performance that may be experienced by a wheelchair user. By means of a virtual human representation of themselves (or ‘avatar’), students were asked to navigate through the house and attempt to remedy any barriers they found. They were observed doing this and substantive notes including descriptions, recorded quotes and summaries of the experience were taken by the first educator/researcher. This was followed by a one-to-one semi-structured interview conducted by the second educator/researcher. All data were transcribed as appropriate, coded and analysed thematically. Findings Themes identified include the relationship between the student and the avatar, the student experience of the task, interaction with the Second Life environment and development of new knowledge and understanding. There is potential for learning about barriers to occupational performance in the home via Second Life. Conclusion Further research is recommended to evaluate the potential value of teaching and learning about environmental adaptation in a three-dimensional world.