Meet Eve, an Occupational Therapy Student on placement with our OT Team

  • 10 November 2021

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Female wearing a white OT uniform standing in the corridor at Arthur Rank Hospice

During Occupational Therapy Week, 1-7 November, we spoke to Eve from our Occupational Therapy (OT) team.

Eve is a second year OT degree student at the University of Essex and is currently on a six-week placement at our Charity. Below she explains a little about OT and why she chose it as a profession:

Why did you choose Occupational Therapy?

I chose OT because I am interested in both the anatomical and functional side of the body and helping patients of all ages overcome or manage their diagnosis, caused by either their illness, disease, or disorder to ensure the patient can carry out everyday tasks and occupations.

Occupational Therapy is a very rewarding profession, as the professionals have a positive influence on patients’ lives and ensure the patients are experiencing both quality of life and carrying out the occupations they would like to continue.

When I was informed about Occupational Therapy in college, I carried out some research on the profession and what the profession entailed. After reading through what is involved, this confirmed that I wanted to do this as a profession and therefore has led to me carrying out a degree in OT.

What do you enjoy in Occupational Therapy?

I enjoy how no day is the same, every day is different and that interests me. It feels good to know that you have made a difference to someone’s life, however big or small; very rewarding.

What are you enjoying during your placement at Arthur Rank Hospice?

On my placement, I am enjoying learning about the different types of symptom management within palliative care and how these are carried out in practice. I have also enjoyed practicing moving and handling with patients who have different illnesses, disorders, or diseases, as this is beneficial for my practice and my future profession.

I have loved getting to know both the Therapy Teams and the Living Well Service team over the last few weeks. I have built some good relationships with professionals within these teams and on the Inpatient Unit.

Both the Therapy teams and the Living Well Service are filled with such genuine, caring, and helpful people who are very approachable if need be. Everyone made me feel at ease as soon as I was introduced to them, which is a lovely feeling.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement so far and I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks here at Arthur Rank Hospice Charity.

How important is Equity within Occupational Therapy?

During Occupational Therapy week, I thought about the equity within OT (#OTsForEquity). Over the past three weeks, I have made two patients communication boards, comprising of words and phrases the patient may use frequently throughout their day. It can also involve pictures, to describe how they are feeling, what they need and what they would like to say. Patients can use these boards to interact with health care professionals and loved ones to ensure they are being listened to and receiving the equal amount of care as any other patient.

To learn more about Occupational Therapy and our OT Team at Arthur Rank Hospice please visit: arhc.org.uk/supporting-you/care-services/therapy-teams/occupational-therapy-physiotherapy/

NB: We shared this article on our Facebook account and it was rather well received! Over 3000 people saw Eve’s post in their Facebook feed. The post also received nearly 700 types of engagement, (that’s people clicking on the post to read it, leaving a comment, sharing the post or leaving a reaction). Which confirmed to us that you like to read more about our colleagues our services and our care.

You can find more colleague stories here: arhc.org.uk/join-us/staff-stories/and personal stories here: arhc.org.uk/supporting-you/personal-stories/

We are very grateful to Eve and everyone who has kindly shared their experience with us.

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