2021 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture

No barriers to brilliance: Social and creative courage to innovate and disrupt occupational therapy practice

Delivered by Dr Anita Atwal

2021 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture

No barriers to brilliance: Social and creative courage to innovate and disrupt occupational therapy practice

Delivered by Dr Anita Atwal

No barriers to brilliance: Social and creative courage to innovate and disrupt occupational therapy practice

Innovation and change require social and creative courage. Social courage is the ability to engage in meaningful relationships with others and involves the willingness to risk oneself for the good of others. This means speaking out, challenging existing behaviours and structures or practice. It means being in a situation we may not want to be in, speaking up and/or taking risks. RCOT’s Chief Executive, Steve Ford, described occupational therapists as ‘feisty’ in his closing remark during the RCOT Annual Conference 2021. But is feisty a sought-after trait within the profession? How many feisty occupational therapists do we know? Are you one? Was Elizabeth Casson just this? Creative courage, in contrast, is the discovering of new forms, new symbols, new patterns on which new society can be built. It has never been more evident than during this pandemic.

Anita’s lecture will build on the concepts of social and creative courage and relate it’s unethical and uncaring behaviours in professional practice that can hinder success. It will utilise stories and accounts from practice, personal reflections and lessons from history as well as best evidence. The aim is for you as colleagues and peers to take risks to innovate and disrupt and have the courage to engage in those difficult conversations to continue the legacy of Elizabeth Casson.

Dr Anita Atwal was nominated to give this year’s lecture by her colleagues for her significant contribution to the profession.

More about Dr Anita Atwal

Dr Anita Atwal is Associate Professor of Interprofessional Working at London South Bank University. She has a particular interest in promoting interprofessional working as well as researching active ageing and long-term conditions. She is committed to the principles of equality and diversity in the occupational therapy workforce. Since #BlackLivesMatter, Anita found her voice and has been using it to promote the principles she believes in. She is actively involved within BAMEOT. Her current focus is on workforce issues in the profession and the need for action to move the profession forward to serve all citizens.

Anita is an experienced researcher who is recognised internationally in the field of occupational therapy to promote quality of care, patient safety and best practice. She is committed to the principles of equality and diversity; evidence-based practice, rehabilitation co-production and has edited two books. Anita has written over 90 papers and has led a research centre. She has written guidelines, conducted systematic reviews, research papers, and presented at many national and international conferences.

Anita is committed to the profession and has served on the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Editorial and Research boards. She is a member of the Professional Practice Board. She is committed to the principles of mentoring and is an Elizabeth Casson mentor, mentor to BAME occupational therapists and to the NIHR Clinical Lecturer Programme.

Learning resources

You can use the reflective toolkit to widen your learning from the 2021 Elizabeth Casson Memorial Lecture delivered by Dr Anita Atwal. It is accompanied by a facilitator guide for those who wish to learn in groups.

Casson Lecture 2021 Toolkit.docx (DOC, 595.52KB)

Casson Lecture 2021 Facilitator guide.docx (DOC, 328.46KB)