Occupational Therapy (Pre-Registration)

This module will provide students with foundation knowledge underpinning occupational therapy practice and understanding of humans as occupational beings. It will include the study of human sciences to understand the impact of pathology on function. Students will also review the common management strategies including pharmacology used to manage pathology and trauma. Occupational Sciences will also be studied as a core subject underpinning occupational therapy. Knowledge and application of the sciences will facilitate critical understanding of the relationship between health, ill-health and occupation on individuals in their everyday lives.

This module will provide students with the skills to explore ethical dimensions of care to instil respectful, reflective professional practice. Part of the module will cover statutory and mandatory training topics for all staff working in health and social care settings outlined by the UK Core Skills Training Framework (CSTF) to the nationally agreed learning outcomes and training delivery standards. This includes safe-guarding vulnerable people and practicing advocacy. Students will undertake practical experience to identify and demonstrate safe and effective moving and handling techniques, infection control, and basic life support. Students will practice monitoring vital signs to ensure those that students will work with are stable for intervention. These skills are particularly relevant to work in first contact or community situations. Students will also undertake half a day a week observation placement to develop observation and communication skills. This placement will be in an area of the students choosing relevant to occupational therapy practice.

This module will explore the occupational therapy models and framework that underpin practice. Students will develop an understanding of the history and philosophical approach of occupational therapy with reference to its impact on individuals, populations and communities. From this framework students will further explore the role of activity and occupation as a vehicle for rehabilitation, empowerment and social engagement.

This module will enable the understanding adoption of ethical and professional reasoning congruent with the requirements of HCPC and RCOT in all practice settings. It will prepare students for the work place in relation to standards of report writing, communication with individuals both clients and members of the multi-disciplinary team, advocacy, and continued professional development. It will develop students understanding off their principal responsibilities for managing risk in relation to relevant legislation.

This module will prepare students to undertake assessment of their client using both standardised and non-standardised assessments. Students will have the opportunity to explore a number of assessment tools for use across the life span. Alongside this students will use generated data to analyse results and form hypotheses. Students will use this evidence to construct goals and be able to select and justify appropriate outcome tools to evaluate and adapt their interventions. Using evidence based information students will determine whether their interventions are effective and whether they are of economic benefit.

During practice placement 1 students will experience occupational therapy practice in a traditional setting. Students will work with an experienced occupational therapy educator to implement simple assessment, intervention and evaluation procedures under supervision. Students will not be expected to carry their own caseload but will be required to organise their allocated workload. They will be visited or contacted by a member of academic staff from the University midway through your placement. Students will be super-numerary to the staff on the practice placement.

This module will explore the socio-cultural and political drivers that affect occupational therapy provision. It will allow students to explore the facilitators and barriers for individuals, communities and populations to support health and well-being whilst also exploring the role of occupational therapy within public health provision. With these features in mind, the module will then further explore how leadership, management and entrepreneurship can facilitate contemporary practice in these areas allowing students to consider diverse professional futures in a range of situations.

This module will have a large practical element allowing students to identify and practice different occupational therapy interventions in relation to task and activity performance in physical and mental health. Students will utilise different approaches to direct interventions to accommodate individual’s goals and aspirations. They will construct and implement interventions for individuals across the life span, including families, carers, and friends. Students will also develop skills in therapeutic dialogue and therapeutic use of self to enhance the intervention. In addition, this module will develop students skills in critical appraisal to assess the evidence base supporting occupational therapy intervention and clinical reasoning where the evidence base is limited or lacking.

This module will build on research skills acquired during students Bachelors degree in order for them to be able to carry out a piece of empirical research at Masters level. The module will review literature searching and critical appraisal skills as well as a regular journal club to develop critical appraisal skills for practice. Students will analyse generated quantitative and qualitative data and develop their skills in protocol and journal writing. In order to prepare students for the Ethics Committee submission (where appropriate) and research study, they will also undertake research governance training.

This module will provide students with the opportunity to explore contemporary practice in occupational therapy with a particular focus on community and primary care. They will be able to identify an area of their own interest within non-traditional and emerging areas of practice and explore it in depth. Students will identify the skills they currently have to work in this area and will construct a learning plan of additional skills that they believe will equip them to work in this area. This module will adopt an international focus enabling students to consider the transferable nature of practice across different countries, cultures, and communities. Students will have the opportunity to present their ideas to those currently working in the field.

During practice placement 2 students will experience occupational therapy practice in a traditional setting and build on their experiences and learning from practice placement 1. They will work with an experienced occupational therapy educator to foster effective working relationships and modify your style of communication. Students will continue to develop their assessment skills working in partnership with clients and involving them in the analysis of the information. Students will select and justify appropriate interventions and modify them in response to evaluation. They will manage a small caseload, manage their time effectively and manage resources in relation to service constraints. They will be visited or contacted by a member of academic staff from the University midway through their placement. Students will be super-numerary to the staff on the practice placement.

During practice placement 3 students will experience occupational therapy practice in a variety of settings including traditional, non-traditional and emerging settings, and build on their experiences and learning from practice placement 1 and 2. Students will work with an experienced occupational therapy educator to make an active contribution to assessment, intervention and evaluation for a caseload of clients. They will manage more complex cases under supervision of their practice placement educator as appropriate. They will be visited or contacted by a member of academic staff from the University midway through your placement. Students will be super-numerary to the staff on the practice placement.

During this module students will work with a site mentor during practice placement 3 to identify a quality improvement plan centred around either clinical practice, leadership, education or research. They will operationalise their plan and evaluate its impact. Examples of project may include ‘Creating a practice guideline to address sexuality with individuals who have spinal cord injury’, ‘Create and implement a professional development plan for newly qualified occupational therapists’, ‘Develop and implement an online continuing education programme for occupational therapy staff returning to practice’.

During this module students will work with a research supervisor to undertake research activity based on their research protocol completed during the Critical Inquiry module.