Occupational Therapy News London

Transcription

1 Theresa Schüller s Blog Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1 Occupational Therapy News London ARRIVAL JAN 18TH 2015 Hello everybody yesterday I arrived at my flat near London. I m glad that my boyfriend found the time to squire my journey for the first time. We already used the week-end to explore the City of London. Now I m looking forward to my internship tomorrow #excited FIRST DAYS DONE JAN Hi there The first days are already done and the work in the hospital is very interesting but quite different to the German Health System. For becoming an OT in the UK you have to study first. Furthermore there is no difference between vocational OT and mental healthot. At the beginning all clients have to go through a treatment called Triage. It is kind of an entry assessment used in WFBMs in Germany. Afterwards the clients will be transfered into special wards depending on their mental illnesses. These wards are: Forensic, Psychosis, Anxiety/Obsessional Compulsiv Disorder, Eating Disorders, Mothers and Babies, Chilrden, Elderly People etc. The therapies are mainly in groups of eight til sixteen people plus two therapists. Following activities are treated: Textiles, Creative Artwork, Computer Training, Internet Café, Photography, Gardening, Aikido, Pottering, Woodwork, Retreat, Drumming, Theatre, Swimming, Beauty Care and Gymnastics. The therapies are mainly executed by OT technicians, drama therapists, music and dance therapists, not only by the OTs themselves. It is a big challange to get familiar with a different system, but I really like the adventure #curiouswhatwillhappennext Talk to you soon

2 THE STAGE IS SET FEB After two months working on the rehabilitation ward for long term Schizophrenia and the main OT department I am going to start the OT process working with a client one-to-one. It will be a very lovely older man diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenia. As I first asked him he directly agreed telling me that he feels honoured that I chose him. During the process I have to write a report based on the MOHO model and doing an intervention with my client finally. Just to explain the process briefly: Set the stage means your first contact with the client and getting to know about the client s case history. Afterwards you are going to assess the client and evaluate the results. Then you will talk with the client about his personal goals and set up a plan, which will be implemented. During the whole process you have to monitor and reflect what you are doing and if the plan still suits the client. Otherwise you have to adapt the plan or start new. If the process works out you evaluate the outcome and conclude it finally. Executing everything in English is a new challenge for me, but I really do like it and I am looking forward to the experience. #getstarted Have you ever worked in chaos before?-you have not? But I do CHAOS JAN Have you ever worked in chaos before?-you have not? But I do. The Hospital I work for is named Bethlem. This name used to be a play of words hundreds of years ago. Bethlem or bedlam is another word for chaos describing the situation of people with mental-health problems in the 13th century. At first the hospital used to be as an attraction for rich people and aristocrats to make fun of the insane. The hospital was founded in 1247 by Simon FitzMary. He gave land in Bishopsgate to the Church of St. Mary of Bethlehem to establish a priory. At some point during the fourteenth century, the priory began to be used as a hospital. From then on it had been a hospital for people with mental-health problems. The hospital was moved several times in history. At its early beginnings it was located in the city centre of London. But during the 20th century when the city grew bigger and bigger they decided to move to Beckenham, where it is sited now. The standards of care and treatment were always better compared to most similar instituations. It was also the first hospital in Britain built according to the villa system, with each ward having its own separate building including a kitchen, dining and sitting room and enclosed garden. There were also separate buildings for administration, nurses accommodation, laboratories, treatment rooms and recreation. In 1948 Bethlem merged with the Maudsley Hospital to form a teaching hospital. In 1999, the two hospitals joined two others to form the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. In 2015 the historical museum of mental health will be opened on the grounds of Bethlem. It will not only be a source to inform people about the development mental health in Great Britain. It will also offer many art therapy courses to students all over the world. 2 #totallyimpressed

3 Camden Town SPOTTED: SECRET PLACES OF LONDON Expect from my work during the week I use my week-ends to discover the different districts of London, mainly the places apart. Especially on Sundays you will find markets in the suburbs of London. Let me guide you through two of them Imagine you will find yourself in a small street. It is a very quiet place. Everywhere you go you ll find amazing graffitis on the wall, like Santa Claus and the Monster of Loch Ness. You ll turn left and after a few minutes walk you ll find yourself at the corner of another street. Suddenly it is very busy. People everywhere and a lovely smell is in the air. Welcome to Brick Lane the biggest and most impressive food market in whole London. On the entire street and in market halls near by you will find food from all over the world. Have a taste and you will plunge into another country Afterwards you ll head back to the underground and when you bob up again you ll find yourself in a very busy street. Suddenly you ll stop What a strange place. The houses have got objects on the wall. You can see shoes, snakes, skulls etc. Turning left you will find yoursef in a big market place with clothes, glasses, jewellery and food. You ll walk along all the stands until a shop with neon lights appears infront of you. This shop seems to be the heart of Camden Town a very fantastic and bizarre place at the same time, very funky and fancy. You should go there! #crazy Feb

4 ICH BIN EIN OT STUDENT FEB Hey guys Guess what?! I was asked to write an article for the OT magazine of Bethlem Royal Hospital and I felt really honored about it. Now I would also like to share the article with you. It is about my decision to pass an internship abroad as well the differences to the German health system. Just a brief overview about the differences in the English health system: As I mentioned several posts before OT is a study in the UK focusing on two different fields of OT the physical and the mental health education. The units at a psychiatric clinic are mainly separated depending on the different mental illnesses. Therefore you will find an anxiety disorder unit, a psychosis unit, an eating disorders unit etc. Furthermore it is against the law to restrain patients physically, when they have got an acute risk of harm to self or others. The treatment costs are payed by the government out of taxes. #enjoy Article! 4

5 FINAL DAYS APRIL 16TH 2015 Hello everybody Now I have just a few days left until I will head back home. It was an amazing experience passing an internship abroad. On the one hand I learned lots about the English health system, I worked together with a very lovely team of OTs, doctors and nurses-a big thank you to all of them!-and I had the opportunity to get to know many different clients and their life stories. On the other hand I enjoyed living in London and getting to know about the life over here. I saw many different places and found new friends. With my friends I explored London day and night, which was great fun. I can only recommend the city with its places like Camden Town, Shoreditch, Soho Finally I would like to thank everybody who made this internship possible and supported me in any kind of way. #cheers! T. It was an amazing experience passing an internship abroad 5