By Chloe (University of Brighton, final year OT Student)
These reflections highlighted an area where my placement partner and I can contribute positively to ongoing practice development.
Understanding the service and my role
The start of the week focused on familiarising myself with Bounce OT’s Learning, Playing & Thriving Together project and exploring the service’s SharePoint, booking systems, pathways, and documentation. Although it initially took time to understand how the different systems connected, this process helped me gradually build a clearer picture of how the universal, targeted, and specialist levels operate.
An important reflection from this induction, was recognising the applicability of occupational therapy, even with remote working at highly specialised service. I’m excited to embrace this diverse style of practice and the uncertainty that comes with it for my professional growth.
Exploring OT models, pathways, and approaches
Throughout the week, I explored OT-informed approaches used within specialist support, including Occupational Performance Coaching and the 1:1 OT service. Understanding these interventions in context helped me appreciate how input differs across the pathway levels. I also noticed variation in how documentation is completed across the service, which highlighted opportunities for enhancing consistency through shared tools and clearer links to theory and reasoning, an area I’m excited to support.
Understanding and embracing risk
Risk emerged as a significant theme during the week, particularly how it is conceptualised and communicated in documentation. I reviewed existing risk assessments and drafted guidance aimed at supporting clarity and shared understanding. This helped me appreciate that risk management is not about restricting participation but about enabling people to take part in valuable activities safely, which reflects RCOT’s emphasis on positive risk-taking.
Through this process, I identified opportunities to:
- Provide guidance around positive risk-taking.
- Support the development of more accessible documentation templates for risk and recording evidence.
These reflections highlighted an area where my placement partner and I can contribute positively to ongoing practice development.
Conversations with staff: building understanding through dialogue
Meeting with Therapeutic Play Leaders, the OT Assistants, Service Manager, and our OT educator offered valuable insight into the service’s strengths and collaborative culture. Through these conversations, I learned that:
- Play Leaders are key to both universal and targeted support pathways.
- Terminology around “targeted” and “specialist” support is sometimes used interchangeably, demonstrating opportunities for continued shared learning.
- Sensory processing theory is used frequently to support activity planning and analysis, and many staff are keen to deepen their understanding of the OT reasoning behind it.
- There is strong enthusiasm across roles for embedding more OT-informed thinking within the service.
These dialogues helped me understand the level of expertise already existing within the team, and where further joint learning could be beneficial.
Working remotely: challenges and strengths
Remote placement work brings certain challenges, such as limited access to the physical context, reliance on digital systems, and the occasional difficulty in capturing all details during online meetings. This required me to check my understanding regularly and reflect on how I communicate, particularly in team meetings.
However, the remote setting has also encouraged me to:
- Work more independently.
- Make purposeful use of supervision.
- Collaborate closely with my placement partner.
- Develop structured questioning and action plans for myself.
- Be intentional in how I organise information and navigate uncertainty.
These developing skills will support my practice both during this placement and in my continuing professional development.
Photo by Mikey Harris on Unsplash
What I plan for week two
This week has provided a strong foundation for the rest of my placement. I have enhanced my learning by:
· Recognising the value of clear, consistent communication in supporting safety and person‑centred care.
- Understanding risk as a tool for enabling participation.
- Appreciating how OT reasoning informs both targeted and specialist interventions.
- Balancing communication within joint meetings and advocating for shared learning.
- Noticing where professional curiosity can support service development.
I look forward to developing my learning through exploring intervention approaches in greater depth, meeting more frequently with the team, and continuing to grow my confidence in the service’s pathways and theoretical foundations.
