Callum MacKinnon (Founder and Lead Occupational Therapist - bounceOT) has been awarded a £5,000 grant from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) Specialist Section for People with Learning Disabilities (SSPLD).
The funding was made available after RCOT SSPLD launched their new Innovation Awards this year.
The committee met today and we reviewed the applications. We were impressed with your application and we are very pleased to share that you were successful, and we would like to award you £5000.
Elspeth Clark (RCOTSSPLD Research &Development Lead)
Congratulations!
Georgia Fair (RCOTSSPLD Chair)
Innovation Project:
To develop a high quality and evidence-based guide about the therapeutic use of the trampoline [as an intervention].
Input
Callum will lead the planning for, project management, and dissemination of the guidance document with consultancy support from Sports for Confidence (SfC).
SfC will lead on researching, evaluating clinical and empirical evidence, facilitate patient participation sessions & brand an online accessible document that is endorsed by RCOT. However, Callum will still have an active role within the development of the resource by sharing his knowledge, experience and previous research links and data.
Output
Online and printed copies of an evidence-based resource for Occupational Therapists and other key stakeholders working with people living with a learning disability.
Outcome
Children and adults with a learning disability will have better access to a safe, fun, and therapeutic activity that can help meet their physical, sensory, medical and/or wellbeing needs.
How will findings, reflections, and recommendations be shared?
Callum and SfC will develop a robust dissemination plan throughout the life time of working together, but Callum has already proposed the following actions (taken from the application) -
• Write an article for SSPLD newsletter once the guide has been published to let members know about the guide, the benefits of the guide to them as OT’s, and the benefits of the guide to people with LD.
• Same as above re: once the guide has been published to OT News.
• Apply to share this resource at RCOT’s Annual Conference in 2024 – via poster presentation and/or short online session.
• Liaise with RCOT SSPLD to present the resource at RCOT SSPLD Conference 2024.
• Liaise with RCOT SSPLD to promote the resource to SS members – e.g. via SSPLD website page on RCOT site / Facilitate CPD and learning sessions about the resource and generally using the therapeutic use of the trampoline as an intervention within OT practice via a new, or existing, clinical forum.
• Create a Marketing Strategy and Social Media plan for promoting the resource in bounceOT – including facilitating staff development sessions and reflecting on how this can be shared with other Occupational Therapists across Scotland (and the rest of the UK).
• Share the resource with colleagues from CSP (Chartered Society of Physiotherapists) and their Special Interest Group within CSP Rebound Therapy Association for Rebound Therapy.
Why is this needed?
Disabled people and people living with long-term health conditions are much less likely to be engaged in sport and physical activity than the general population. Because of this they do not benefit from the many outcomes that participation brings about: improvements to physical health, mental wellbeing and the enhancement of social capital.
Such inequalities have led to a growing interest in how sport and physical activity might be utilised for therapeutic means and ends.
The intention of this project is to develop a guide that will support and inform such work.
If physical activity was promoted by all health care professionals and used more widely as an assessment and intervention tool, this could make a significant contribution to reducing inactivity and levelling up health inequalities.
The guide is intended to be a starting point for thinking about and planning how to use a trampoline for therapeutic purposes, and includes an assortment of ideas, suggestions and resources.
The guide will be written primarily for occupational therapists, but it may also be of use to other health professionals, sports coaches, and trampoline-based activity groups.
Central to the practice of occupational therapy is an interest in the relationship between activity participation and health and wellbeing.
Occupational therapy practice involves utilising a range of activities for assessment and intervention, often through grading (e.g., grading interventions simply means increasing or decreasing the difficulty of the intervention based on how the person is responding to it), adapting, and modifying the activity to ultimately enable meaningful participation for those who wish to take part.
It is therefore considered a priority that occupational therapists, and anyone else involved in using sport and physical activity for therapeutic means and ends, consider sporting activities for their therapeutic potential role in enabling people with a range of health conditions to live a more active lifestyle.
Other Therapeutic Guides (SfC)
SfC have developed other therapeutic guides as part of their Specialist Provision offering.
The Therapeutic Use of Cycling - Therapeutic Guide
The therapeutic value of snooker
The therapeutic use of table tennis
Using Boccia as an Assessment and Intervention Tool
