@westlondonnhs Thank you! The team have put so much effort in over the last year so it was great to see them acknowledged and rewarded :)

@DavisCronin Thank you! :)

@Keirwales I think it's a great idea and there should be some experiential sessions e.g. running a mock therapeutic group to showcase practice. *However*, right now there's a 0% chance our Trust would fund anything beyond a fee and travel (and that requires a long application form)

@shanemoynihan Ah, I remember the old NTA websites promising 'Line F' to Lucan would likely be built by 2014... Good times 😂

@theRCOT Acute admission mental health (I've also previously worked in community and forensic mental health)

For OT Week, here's a piece I wrote where you can learn more about Occupational Therapy and how a bunch of gingerbread cookies changed my life (no, really!) :) @rcot

Purely out of curiosity, does anyone @AOTInews and/or @VdTMoCAFUK know if anywhere in Ireland is using the VdT MOCA as a practice model? I've tried looking before but got nowhere. If not, I wonder why not?

Another day, another study telling us what Occupational Therapists have known for *decades* 🤦 How do these studies get away with assuming they've made a novel contribution?

@Sheraz_Ahmad_ We've effectively phased them out in favour of looking at underpinning occupational performance components. So that involves groups, observations, conversations, interactions etc. It's designed to be both more comprehensive and supportive and feel less intrusive.

I sometimes just get so frustrated and fed up with the disrespect towards/lack of knowledge about #OccupationalTherapy from other teams/professions. The need for repeated advocacy, at times, for the bare minimum of respect can be very tiring.

@Derektracy1 @JadeThorne9 @westlondonnhs 'It's not easy being green' is literally what I could write to be fair 🙂

@AyoCaesar It has a huge impact on how patients experience care. Until we got one-off funding, we provided Occupational Therapy to acutely unwell MH patients with broken games, jigsaws with missing pieces & stained/scratched kitchen equipment. How can that feel therapeutic & person-centred?

Never underestimate the power of Britney Spears in helping build a therapeutic relationship with a service user 🙂🙂 Also, in an opinion poll in our ward therapeutic group today, she beat Taylor Swift!!!!

There is definitely something to be said for having Annual Leave where you don't 'go' anywhere and just hang out. Walking along the Southbank after lunch at Borough Market (inc. Monmouth Coffee obviously!) and it is.... Nice.

@Gwyneth_OT *cough* Hello! *Cough*

This is why Occupational Therapy is so vital; we're *trained* in function inc. assessing & spotting changes. Every decision someone makes has a volitional underpinning & that's what we reason around. It's our special skill and why we need to be integrated at every pathway stage.

@Derektracy1 @westlondonnhs More than happy to, just let me know when you're available :) Depending on the day, we may even be able to treat to you an all-natural hand scrub/face mask after!

@Derektracy1 @westlondonnhs I really hope the artwork was by the service user I think it might be. We helped him explore new mediums and materials, he is so talented :) Come to H&F MHU and see all our brand new resources (including Mario Kart and 63kg of art clay)! We now do pampering and brunch groups...

@CorArdens Well we don't know how bad it is yet but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the IT stuff is wrecked :/ We're actually in Porto right now so it's the rest of the team I'm feeling sorry for!