Clinical practice actions

Clinical practice actions

Public Health and Prevention

To achieve this we can:

• keep working to reduce health inequalities and prevent illness
• help people you're working with take control of their health and reduce unnecessary healthcare visits.
• engage in 'making every contact count' conversations to improve patient health while being environmentally conscious
• advocate and use your influence – AHPs are respected professionals who can drive change.

Sustainable OT assessments and interventions

You could:

• discuss eco-friendly options with the people you're working with for activities like cooking and shopping
• use resource-efficient methods to reduce waste and energy consumption
• look into local sustainability projects when addressing community participation and social isolation in OT intervention
• re-frame OT assessment documentation by including sustainable practices in daily living (self-care/leisure/productivity).

Eco-friendly equipment solutions

Collaborate with colleagues, including green champions and sustainability leads, to actively reduce the environmental impact of your practice when buying and prescribing items.

You can use the five key drivers:

• reduce – collaborate with patients and families to prescribe responsibly
• reuse – establish a system for cleaning and reusing equipment
• reprocess – repair equipment for longer use
• renewable – seek eco-friendly options
• recycle – save parts or recycle responsibly when equipment is no longer usable.

Know your food

You could:

• support the people you work with in sustainable lifestyle choices, such as active travel and low-carbon diets
• promote plant-based, unprocessed foods, reduce food waste and consider physical and psychosocial factors
• think about why food is wasted physically and socially and find ways to address it, such as using adaptive cutlery or changing habits and routines
• integrate meal planning into assessments
• collaborate with healthcare professionals (especially Dieticians and Speech and Language therapists) for better patient choices.

Embrace nature

Spending time in green and blue spaces is good for our mental and physical wellbeing and helps us connect with nature. Here are some activities you can do:

• grow your own food and flowers through social and therapeutic horticulture
• enjoy nature-based activities like swimming, walking, running and more in parks or at the beach
• take part in outdoor sports such as surfing, paddleboarding, hiking and more
• engage in activities like yoga, photography, wildlife programs and rewilding
• explore social farms and gardens.