People across the UK are celebrating Disability History Month all November and as part of that, we bring you a fascinating article that reflects on our profession’s strong connections to the disability movement. Rachel Booth-Gardiner and Dr Wendy Bryant, on behalf of ABLEOTUK, tell us something about the history of the event in the UK, before looking at current tensions in practice, attitudes and partnerships for progress.
Also championing accessibility this month is a new charity called Access the Dales, which aims to increase disabled access to the countryside. We hear from four occupational therapy students from Sheffield Hallam University about their unique extended scope placement, which focused on developing a sight guided walk for blind and partially sighted people and establishing hubs for people to hire free all-terrain wheelchairs. It’s amazing what they achieved in just nine weeks; prepare to be inspired!
Elsewhere we bring you news about the work RCOT is doing with Health Education England on workforce reform, joint work with CSP to produce principles of practice-based learning and a reflection on how RCOT is using the supervision audit data it collected earlier this year to support your development.
We hope you enjoy reading and remember, if you want to share your work, personal journey or placement experience, please get in touch at editorial@rcot.co.uk. As well as the printed copy, you can also view the magazine online.