Inclusive Engagement
All members of our occupational therapy (OT) workforce, irrespective of background and/or characteristics, should feel valued, respected, and supported to develop their talents to the full. This project complements ongoing work by CPD@RCOT to improve inclusive engagement and the support offered to increase representation across all levels and scopes of practice.
We want to challenge the barriers to career development and progression that can be and have been experienced by those historically underrepresented in our profession. We want to make sure they are given the support they need to develop their careers across the four pillars of practice. As part of this work, we also want to acknowledge that career progression and development aren’t always linear or hierarchical and that each individual’s narrative within the profession will be different.
To inform this work, we combined the valuable contributions of our project advisory group, insights from across a portfolio of HEE projects, our supervision audit and workforce survey.
Career conversations
We have recorded and produced a series of vodcasts (video podcasts) and podcasts with members of our occupational therapy community. The series focuses on hearing and sharing the career narratives of our diverse workforce and highlights a range of possibilities and opportunities in occupational therapy.
Each vodcast is also available in traditional audio podcast format and/or text transcription. These vodcasts and podcasts are part of RCOT and Health Education England (HEE) collaboration to create an Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Workforce Reform to shape the future of the AHP personnel. The learning and insight will be for all four nations.
Career journey as a river
Many of these career conversations use the analogy of career journey as a river as per the Kawa model of occupational therapy.