In this month’s issue, we celebrate the hard work and dedication of some of the occupational therapists involved in the development of specialist services to support people with Long COVID, as well as hear from occupational therapists who themselves have been on the long road to recovery and return to work.
Some 18 months on since the UK government ordered the first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s clear that for certain people who contracted the virus, the symptoms can last weeks or months after the infection has gone, leading to a great need for support in managing symptoms at home, or if the symptoms are having a bigger impact on life, in specialist rehabilitation centres.
We hear from a group of occupational therapists who contracted COVID-19 in the first wave of the pandemic, and who are now over 17 months on from infection; they share their personal experience of peer support in ‘riding the waves’ of Long COVID.
Each from a variety of professional backgrounds and settings, spanning frontline and community NHS, higher education, private practice and international perspectives, the group chose to adapt the Kawa model to conceptualise their joint experience.
In a separate feature, Pamela Thompson, who works within Fife Health and Social Care Partnership as a children and young people’s occupational therapist, also talks about being supported back to work with the help of her line manager and supervisor.
Thanks to a ‘wonderfully dynamic and supportive team’, she is on the road to a full recovery, and she wants to encourage staff and employees to ‘think a little differently, a little more creatively and a little more flexibly’ about the process of returning to work after COVID-19.
Turning to supporting service users, Lauren Drake, clinical lead occupational therapist at Wakefield Adult Community Services, shares their community therapy rehabilitation service’s experience of helping people to manage Long COVID and return to work.
While Ellen Chisman documents the evolution of a community Long COVID rehabilitation team in Leeds and examines the specific the role of occupational therapy.
As part of the process, service users complete the COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C19YRS), ‘the only patient self-reported, Long COVID specific screening tool and outcome measure to be recommended by NHS England’. It collects information about symptoms, their impact on patients’ functionality and overall quality of life, and here, Ellen explains how the service has developed and how knowledge is expanding due to its work.
Finally, Tori Wolfendale and Justine Eaton reflect on embracing the unique role of the occupational therapist in forensic mental health and specialist learning disability services for patients following a diagnosis of COVID-19.
Since June 2020, all patients under the care and treatment within the secure and specialist learning disability division of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust who have tested positive for COVID-19 receive the completion of a ‘pioneering’ post-COVID-19 functional assessment tool.
Other features in this issue include a look at the development of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s OPTIMA Mood Disorders Service neurocognitive pathway, how the Southampton Urgent Response Service is working to meet the NHS Long Term Plan and NICE guidelines on two-hour waiting times, reflections on the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust’s apprenticeship approach, and much more.
Thanks to everyone who contributed. We hope you all enjoy this issue.
OTnews is our monthly membership magazine. As well as the printed copy, you can also view the magazine online. If you would like to share your innovative service developments and reflections on new ways of working in a future issue, why not download the guidance or get in touch with the editor at editorial@rcot.co.uk or Tweet us @OTnews.