Day in the Life

Camilla Hawkins Camilla is the lead occupational therapist at Mildmay Hospital, where she works with people who are living with HIV.

A day in the life of... Each month... we talk to a different occupational therapist to see what a typical day is for them and explain a little more about their role. Hawkins Camilla

What is your current role?

I am the lead occupational therapist at Mildmay Hospital. The unit opened in 1988, initially primarily as a hospice service, but over time, and with improved medical management (most notably the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy), it has evolved to its current work as a service providing assessment and rehabilitation. In early 2020, we also developed a new pathway, offering a service to people who were homeless. This pathway included a number of beds for people needing to complete COVID isolation who were homeless or in accommodation where they could not safely isolate. Our next development is to provide step-down beds for people who have completed a substance use detox programme. I work within a multidisciplinary team of nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals providing assessment and rehabilitation. I consider physical, psychological and cognitive elements, and their impact upon participation in activities and routines that are important and meaningful to the individual. In common with my MDT colleagues I also key-work a number of people, coordinating aspects of their admission and associated processes as well as providing occupational therapy input to them if required.

Describe a typical day...

I tend to have a mixture of sessions that are timetabled in advance, and ad-hoc sessions, enabling me to meet with people perhaps newly admitted, or for whom new needs in relation to occupational therapy have arisen. There needs to be flexibility, and a ‘plan B’ can be useful! There will always be time allocated to administration, including contributing to MDT reports, community referrals, perhaps a home visit assessment report, or a discharge planning meeting. The majority of the MDT are sole practitioners so it is important to work as a team, know each other’s unique contribution, and where your work fits in – as well as the value of it.

What’s the hardest part of your role?

Unfortunately, stigma and discrimination often continue to affect people living with HIV. Sometimes this will stop people even being admitted to the unit. People are often concerned about reactions of others, including unfortunately health and social care staff. They may also self-stigmatise, which can affect many aspects of their lives.

What’s the best part of your role?

The best part of my job is the opportunity to work with a variety of individuals, and within a supportive and skilled team. The changing nature of needs for people living with HIV, which continues to evolve, has maintained my desire to work within this field. I value the fact that occupational therapy is a dual trained profession, and that we are able to assess needs, barriers to participation from a variety of perspectives. A substantial part of my role is assessing the impact of cognitive impairment upon function. I value the opportunities to learn from the lived experience of those I work with as well as using as many opportunities as possible to share information regarding occupational therapy in this setting.