Members are invited to help influence future research into occupational therapy by completing a new survey.
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) is working with the James Lind Alliance in a Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) to identify the top 10 priorities for future occupational therapy research in the UK.
In 2019, RCOT ran a survey asking people who access occupational therapy services, their carers and occupational therapists to submit the questions about occupational therapy that they felt research could answer.
Now in this second survey we are asking members to help to identify the top priorities for research. We would like members to then encourage people who access their services to also take part.
This survey will help create a shortlist of questions from which the top 10 priorities will be agreed at a workshop on Monday 1 June 2020. Members can express interest in participating in this workshop on our website .
Dr Jo Watson, RCOT Assistant Director – Education and Research, shared:
“We are excited to be undertaking this agenda-setting work which will help give people who access occupational therapy services, their carers and occupational therapists a louder voice in determining the direction of future occupational therapy research than is traditionally the case.
“Alongside the new RCOT Research and Development Strategy, the outcome of this project will help develop the profession’s evidence base, and ensure research focuses on answering the questions that matter most to people accessing and delivering services.
“We want as many people who access occupational therapy, their carers, occupational therapists and other health and care professional as possible to take part. Once members have completed the survey, we encourage them to share it with others to help us determine the direction of future occupational therapy research in the UK.”
The survey is open from Wednesday 26 February 2020 until 5pm on Tuesday 14 April 2020 and can be completed online.
English and Welsh versions of the survey can also be downloaded from the RCOT website and returned by post or email.