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.

Career journey as a river: an introduction to the Kawa model, the career conversations series and Kawa based reflection tool

This brief introduction gives a bit more context to how the series came about and a short animated overview of the Kawa model and analogy of career journey as river that's been used throughout many of the conversations.

With emphasis on journeys, pathways, narratives and possibilities, and with its natural lean towards creative or visual learning styles and multimedia formats, using the Kawa model and analogy of career journey as river course was a natural fit in terms of a lens to frame this career conversation series.

What is the Kawa Model?

Kawa is a model of occupational therapy developed by Professor Michael Iwama. Kawa is the Japanese word for ‘river’ and the Kawa Model uses the natural metaphor of a river to depict one’s life journey. Along its meandering path, the quality and character of its flow will vary from place to place, from instance to instance.

Further information and resources relating to the Kawa model can be found at kawamodel.com

Career journey as river: a reflection tool based on the Kawa model

A reflection tool based on the Kawa model is also introduced in the video. The tool repurposes the prompts used in the career conversations series for individual reflection and discussion, alongside a selection of illustrations as visual prompts.

References

Iwama, M.K, Thomson, N. A, Macdonald R. M. (2009) ‘The Kawa model: The power of culturally responsive occupational therapy’, Disability and Rehabilitation, 31:14, 1125-1135, DOI:10.1080/09638280902773711

Teoh, J.Y., Iwama, M.K. (2015). The Kawa Model Made Easy: a guide to applying the Kawa Model in occupational therapy practice. 2nd edition. Available at: www.kawamodel.com (Accessed: 06/12/2022)