OTmeetingspace gets a home!

The idea that started out as a tiny spark has now become a full blown towering inferno! Thanks to a very unusual Christmas gift the project now has a website for us to try out features. We wanted initially to create an opportunity for OTs to volunteer their skills online using the best of web 2.0 technology but quickly recognised the projects potential. We started out on a Facebook group and things snowballed from there! For me this is so exciting, but also a bit daunting! I'm only really a web 2.0 rookie and although I'm an experienced therapist I'm not used to working on global projects for sure! Luckily OT's (I've found) are a friendly, helpful and dedicated bunch on the whole and I've been lucky enough to have the support of lots of international colleagues. However I would like to say a special thank you to Sarah Bodell from Salford Uni for her motivation and help with getting so far in such a short space of time.

I'm naturally a "yes" person so I need to make sure I temper my enthusiasm for the project with the day job and home life but I like to think that though my "yes" tendencies can be a logistical nightmare it opens up the world to me.

For me, like the techno kit I use in the day job, technology is a means to an end. That end might be increasing a patients sense of self worth through the creativity of Internet access or voice output communication or the end might be finding ways to promote the profession I really believe in. Anyway come on over and have a look at the site and get excited!

Here I go!

Be gentle with me as this is my inaugural post! It would seem sensible to assume that working in a (predominantly) electronic assistive technology service I would be pretty tech savvy but it's fair to say my skills in making full use of, contributing to, and navigating all things web 2.0 is a work in progress! Nevertheless I have decided to jump in as I strongly believe these resources offer incredible opportunities we must grab with both hands to give our profession the best chance of surviving the huge changes occurring across health and social care.

Developing my knowledge and use of these media is directly linked to an exciting new project I am investigating. I have long harboured an ambition to work overseas in an area where OT is emerging. I think many other therapists who are passionate about OT also plan, at some point in their career, to do the same. However with a full time job, mortgage and young son that dream seemed a reasonable way off becoming a reality, to put it mildly.

I then thought about other volunteer opportunities which would be more feasible given my financial and family situation. Online volunteering seemed like a great solution so I looked into schemes such as the UN programme and Childline but couldn't find a way to do anything specifically OT. The WFOT affiliate OTION has some online forums (although barely used) and a searchable database of members but that wasn't really what I was after as it seemed to be aimed at developing links between OT's already working in those countries, or therapists who were planning to.

Thinking about this I had a spark of an idea: There are lots of opportunities out there for OT's to go and practice overseas for varying lengths of time. However the reality for many OT’s who might love to have this experience is that they are unable to do so. This may be for a variety of reasons: caring responsibilities for children or others, financial pressures, health reasons etc etc. Volunteering online could offer a unique opportunity to tap into the knowledge, skills of practitioners across the world by offering an online space to work with therapists in areas where the profession is emerging to promote and develop OT. This online space would also hold some applications/routes for online meetings, teaching etc so that the sharing of experiences could be done between small groups of interested clinicians. It could work so that clinicians/educators/students wanting to volunteer were matched via a "buddy" type of system or that OT’s in areas wanting support post ideas for the projects which they would like help with and OT’s looking for volunteer work "apply" to work on these projects. This could be a novel professional development opportunity for all involved; optimising the exciting possibilities web 2.0 has to offer. Projects could be around developing care pathways, designing groups, developing training and teaching resources etc. This webspace could also signpost to relevant supporting information (such as the open source information on the ENOTHE project . This concept could also work for therapists working in role emerging posts.

So I some proposed the idea to a few people and the facebook group OTmeetingspace was born to make more links to relevant groups and therapists and to explore the idea further. Clearly we need to establish if the target OT’s in countries with emerging practice feel there is a need for this type of project. We need to map, critique and evaluate existing resources to identify areas of overlap and where the gaps lie. I would ask anyone interested and reading this blog to join and help shape this project.