A Week in the Life of an Independent OT
My name is Julie Jennings; I currently work as an independent Occupational Therapist. Initially, I combined this alongside NHS and Local Authority work but for the last 14 years this has been my full-time role.
I have been thinking about what could be considered an interesting first post for this blog, and it occurred to me that people probably don’t know what a working week looks like to an OT. No two weeks in my line of work are the same, so I thought an overview of a very “atypical” working week in January 2020 would illustrate the range and diversity of just some of the work I do:
Monday: This was an office day, which is a rare occurrence some weeks! On these days I’m typically in the office by 7.30am, checking emails and making a plan for the day. Following this, I reviewed a draft joint statement that needed to be finalised by Thursday (the discussion occurred last Friday and the first draft was received this morning). The rest of the morning and much of the afternoon was spent reviewing records prior to a medico-legal assessment I have on Friday. This was mixed in with telephone discussions with various members of my team, dealing with general enquiries, and updating training material for a training course I am running over the next two days. This job requires a lot of evening work. where I continued to work on a medico-legal report in production. Training preparations completed, version 2 of the joint statement worked on and several sections of my report are completed before the day ends.
Tuesday: I undertook disability related training and the impact of posture to a retail partner that specialises in seating products. This two-day intensive course gave attendees an overview of what posture is, the importance of good posture, the negative aspects of poor posture and general health and well-being topics. The training also involves a half-day simulated session in what it feels like to live with impairments, which results in a thoroughly enjoyable but exhausting day. I return to the office by 6.00pm to prepare some training material for day two, carry out some further reviewing for my assessment on Friday and complete a couple more sections of my report before ending the day. I also managed to attend my exercise class this evening which helps with my own health and well-being!
Wednesday: Day two of the training course: the emphasis was on carrying out individual seating assessments; communicating with people with higher level impairments and educating them into the benefits of looking after their posture. Another enjoyable, rewarding and exhausting day. I return to the office to spend a couple of hours responding to emails, speaking with various members of my team, and finalising the joint statement that is due in tomorrow. I also attended an exercise boot camp; I felt exhausted but it’s well worth it!
Thursday: After submitting the joint statement, I then had three university assessments that needed to be carried out in the morning on students with various health needs impacting upon their accommodation requirements. The first two hours of the morning was therefore spent gathering paperwork and preparing for the assessments. First assessment starts at 10.30am; three assessments (and four hours later) I return to the office to type up the findings and prepare recommendations for assistive aids and adaptations required to enable improved independence. Assessments emailed and discussion with the Accommodation Team about recommendations made. Final review / preparations for my assessment on Friday completed. I also complete a further few sections of my report before ending the day.
Friday: My assessment for today was scheduled at 10.30am and was 175 miles(!) drive away. I had to leave the house at 6.30am to give sufficient time, allowing for traffic. Medico-legal assessments are very detailed and I spent almost five hours hours with the client before leaving. First stop was a nearby services to grab a coffee and sandwich and to record further details onto my assessment proforma whilst it is all fresh. I arrive home by 7.30pm, before spening a final hour in the office responding to emails before ending the day.
Saturday: Unfortunately, like most people, the routine jobs still have to be done. Saturdays are generally spent cleaning, shopping and catching up with family and friends wherever possible.
Sunday: Long dog walk starts the day which is a great way to blow away the cobwebs. I spend the afternoon in the office working on my report and responding to emails. I had a case conference in Manchester on Monday morning, and therefore relevant paperwork had to be reviewed and documents prepared in readiness before it all starts again!
As ever – I think to myself that there really aren’t enough hours in a day or days in the week!
Julie