7 minute read
Passion Project
If you’ve found your passion for your work take a hit this year, don’t let it worry you: instead, use it as an opportunity for change and growth
No-one really expected the global pandemic to last as long as it has. Well over a year on from the first reported case of COVID-19, we are still drowning in the virus’ wake, chewing on terms like “the new normal” which explain away our inability to see friends, family, and loved ones. More than that, the strain on some parts of our society have been horrendous: there was a reason we clapped for NHS workers every Thursday night for two months. Alongside retail workers, people who work in public transport, delivery personnel and many other unseen facets of society, they kept us running when no-one else could. Now, it feels like the end is in sight: as we write this, the first vaccines are being administered to the public outside of trial environments. Margaret Keenan, a 90year old from Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, became the first to receive the Pfizer virus, and hopefully, as you read this, many more will have received it, too. As we glimpse at the light at the end of the tunnel, there’s a lot of feelings to begin processing. For some - not just OTs, but nurses and other healthcare professionals - the past year has been one that weighs heavy on the heart and soul. There was nothing easy in the work that was being done, and some of the experiences being reported by medical staff on the frontline - including but not limited to the issues relating to PPE and the over 600 NHS staff and social care workers who have died from COVID-19 - are harrowing, to say the least. At this point, if you were to say out loud that the stress, anxiety and weight of expectations that the last year has placed upon you have caused you to lose your passion for your work as an OT, very few people could blame you. What is important, however, is to recognise that it is not gone, it is simply lost, and lost things have a tendency to turn up when we choose to go hunting for them. With that said, if you do feel like your passion for your chosen profession is waning, or you’re having a crisis of faith in your career, it’s time to take a step back and ask yourself what it was that led you to pick such an incredible, life-changing career in occupational therapy in the first place?
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WHAT MADE ME WANT TO BE AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST?
For some people, it was a life-altering interaction with an OT who helped them through their own issues with recovering meaningful activities; for others, it is simply a means to help people, and through the provision of assessment and intervention, they take incredible joy. These, and every single reason in-between, are all valid reasons to have found a passion for occupational therapy. Sometimes, when we experience occupational burnout, we find that our connection to the passion that made us want to pursue our career paths in the first place is weakened, or in drastic cases, severed. The thing is, people change, and so do our passions. That is not the death knell for your role as an OT, it simply means that you have an opportunity to find somewhere else to place your passions. If taking time to reflect on what got you to where you are now doesn’t help in rekindling your love affair, it might be worth taking the opportunity to explore other areas of specialisation. This could give you both a break from the area you’ve been in and an excellent chance to rekindle the flames of your passion.
WHO CAN I TALK TO ABOUT THIS?
Communication is, above all else, the most important tool you have at your disposal when you’re feeling despondent about your work. Sometimes, taking the time to sit down with a trusted member of staff and outlining your feelings can lend you vital insight into your own feelings; sometimes, they can even reassure you. Often we don’t realise how important a cog we are in the engine that is our work, until someone points it out to us. As underwhelming as it seems, having someone point out that you are, in fact, a valued member of staff in your workforce can do wonders to helping you ease the negative emotions you’re feeling towards your work. It is also important to ensure you have a good network of people who you can speak to, not only mentors or senior staff. Other OTs, family and friends can offer valuable opinions on how to correct your course. Often, feelings of dismay with our work can be brought on by the feeling of being overwhelmed, and that’s
perfectly ok, especially at a time when the strain on our health service is so severe and OTs are playing such an important role. It’s absolutely ok to feel overwhelmed, but what isn’t right is letting that eat into your love for your job. Discussing feelings like these - being overwhelmed, stressed or despondent - can help you work through them and emerge out of the other side as a happier, more passionate OT. ARE THERE CHANGES I CAN MAKE TO ALLEVIATE MY FEELINGS?
Hear us out here: sometimes, we take on too much. This is likely shocking to you, dear reader; sweet OT who is presumably spending their downtime trying to do 800 things at once, including reading The OT Magazine. It is easy to simply say that you took on too much in the
last year. The world feels like it’s falling down around us, no wonder you might feel that way. If you are able to take some time to rest, that might be helpful. If you can delegate out some of your workload to trusted colleagues in order to lower your stress levels, that is also a fine idea. Are you engaging in good self-care? Occupational therapists are forever telling other people these very things, but are you, an OT, doing them yourself? OTs, you are important. You’re valued and you play a vital role. If you do find your passion waning, it’s worth taking a step back, and trying to remember that. We (quite literally) wouldn’t be here without you.
DLF LAUNCHES FREE ADAPTATIONS WEBINARS
The DLF is running a series of free webinars over the winter period featuring techniques and advice for assessing for major adaptations. Presented by DLF Trainers and leading OT practitioners in the field of adaptations the practical talks are based on DLF’s level five ‘Home Adaptations for Professionals’ training course.
The series began in December with Practical Assessment for Home Adaptations: Kitchen Design presented by Marney Walker. You can contact the DLF to access this talk.
UPCOMING FREE WEBINARS
Practical Assessment for Home Adaptations: Bathroom Design
January’s talk takes place at 1pm on 20 January 2021 and focuses on bathroom design. The bathrooms webinar will be led by Louise Powell, an experienced OT with a career spent specialising in adaptations mainly based in housing teams. As team manager for the HEART Partnership in Warwickshire, she manages an integrated housing adaptations team covering the whole county. The HEART team includes OTs, housing assessment officers and housing duty officers who work with a technical team to provide a wide range of housing solutions. Louise’s talk will examine considerations around bathroom solutions, a review of showering and bathing options along with accessories essential to successful bathroom design.
Practical Assessment for Home Adaptations: Access Solutions
This webinar takes place on 18 February at 1pm and focuses on access solutions. Claire Miller, one of DLF’s trainers is an OT in private practice with over thirty years’ experience. Based in Derbyshire she takes a holistic approach to assessment and writes and trains extensively. Claire’s talk will look at the possible solutions to enable a person to enter their home safely and cover some of the measurement considerations when planning an access solution.
Practical Assessment for Home Adaptations: Multiple Levels
The final webinar in the series is on 18 March at 1pm. Multi-level solutions is the theme of this webinar which looks at solutions to access multiple levels within the home. The session will focus on considerations for through floor lifts and how to measure for these, along with other alternative solutions. Cathrine Ruston is a DLF trainer and writer, previously a commissioner in Cheshire and an OT specialising in independent living. With a track record in service transformation, she brings a wealth of experience to the topic.
REGISTER TO ATTEND
The webinars are free to join and you can register to attend them at https://yw753.infusionsoft.app/ app/form/zoom-registration-form. To find out more about DLF’s programme for professionals involved in assessing for adaptations please email enquiries@dlf.org.uk or phone 0300 123 3084.
ABOUT THE DLF
The DLF is a 50-year old national charity and part of The Shaw Trust. It specialises in impartial information, advice and training on equipment for independent living. Free services for the public include Living Made Easy (livingmadeeasy.org.uk) their impartial online marketplace, AskSARA an online guided advice tool (asksara.livingmadeeasy.org.uk) and Youreable the thriving forum (youreable.com). Services for professionals include their DLF Training courses and DLF-Data the prescribing tool for professionals which is free to use during the pandemic, you can contact them for a login, visit dlf.org.uk.
