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Career Profile of Jan Miller, an OT in a Day Care Service (Adults)

Jan Miller, one of four occupational therapists currently working with the day services, feels her job is a little out of the ordinary. Set up some two - three years ago, it is the only post that operates across three day centres within the East Herts area; it has a dual focus of providing a service to existing day service clients and being involved with development of the overall service, particularly with a view to encouraging an increased emphasis on 'rehabilitation.'

Taken as a group, the day service client group includes physical and sensory debility, clients with mental health difficulties, including dementia and some learning difficulties. The medical conditions are wide ranging, the most common being CVA (stroke,) Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, skeletal (e.g. arthritic) and neurological conditions, various dementia’s and mental health conditions (e.g. schizophrenia) etc.

For Jan, this has meant using the full range of her occupational therapy skills, but not necessarily in perhaps the most obvious ways learnt during her training!. There is no typical day. The following gives an indication of the breadth of Jan's role:

• resolving moving and handling issues,
• advice and information on equipment and resources,
• training of staff in use of hoist and other equipment,
• home visits,
• encouraging staff to appreciate the value of the work they do in rehabilitation terms (i.e. promoting independence, managing deterioration, etc) and use of this information in the writing of care plans, record keeping etc.,
• participating and contributing to various projects e.g. adaptation of the centre buildings, review of the care plan proforma, writing reports, giving formal and informal presentations to a variety of groups,
• establishing working links with a wide variety of people in both the statutory and voluntary sector etc.

In particular Jan is heavily involved with development of the resource centre model, considered to be 'the future of day services' which will, in time, include a range of therapy opportunities on site. The work of her colleagues, in single site centres, will reflect Jan's in almost all aspects, although of course each locality has its own unique setting, history and ways.

Working in day services, as an occupational therapist is different. Jan says ‘we are not unsupported, and indeed meet regularly as a group partly for that reason, but on a day to day basis we are each effectively a 'one man band.' This means we have to be articulate in both verbal and written skills, clear about the role of occupational therapy and its importance in the future of the day services, and have the ability (or quickly develop the ability!) to grasp the fuller picture in order to make a positive and valuable contribution to its future.’

Occupational therapy is there to help individuals and their families attain whatever goals may be important to them be it brushing their teeth or flying a kite. Jan sees her role as not only continuing this philosophy in her work with individual clients, but also underpinning her broader role of working towards development of a service which actively supports, encourages and enables the individual and his or her family in this.
It is an important role, which has the potential to heavily influence the quality and direction of day service provision in the future, and for Jan, makes for a very satisfying job.