World OT Day 27 October 2011

Harrison Training is delighted to support the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) with World OT Day on 27 October 2011. Please visit link below to download free information and offers.

Link to WFOT Website

Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) Frontline Article

‘Enormous benefit’ of therapy overlooked.

An innovative and evidence-based treatment for stroke is being underused, says a physio who has developed a training course in the technique.

Constraint Induced Movement Therapy is recommended in the National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke, says Annie Meharg,Physiotherapist, who has 20 years’ NHS experience in neurological rehab units at hospitals such as Homerton and the Royal Free in London.

But physios don’t feel confident about using this challenging treatment, says Annie Meharg, who developed the one-day course with colleague Jill Kings, an occupational therapist.

Aimed at highly motivated patients after hemiplegia, CIMT involves restraining the unaffected arm while giving intensive task practice to promote use of the affected arm.

‘We’re giving people a task on the border between possible and impossible,’ says Annie Meharg. ‘That’s challenging for physios too. But it has the potential to be of enormous benefit for some patients.’ The Association of Chartered Physiotherapists Interested in Neurology says CIMT is an ‘emerging tool’ that is well researched for treating certain stroke patients.

Reference: Frontline Magazine, 21 July 2010, authors Annie Meharg and Jill Kings (Frontline author: Joy Ogden)

The CIMT course is being run on 22 May 2012 in London. Please follow the link for an Application Form, or contact Harrison Training if you are interested in reserving a place.

CPD Portfolio Online Tool

At last! – Harrison Training take the Pain out of CPD... Harrison Training have developed a long-awaited, easy to use continuing professional development (CPD) tool that really does make it easier to create and maintain a Health Care Professionals’ legally required CPD Portfolio. CPDonLine (CPDoL) can be easily accessed from the Harrison Training website and provides an interactive, online portfolio system in which to organise and record CPD evidence. The facility provides comprehensive and up to date descriptions of CPD terms and requirements; easy to follow guidance as to how to write and maintain your portfolio; and useful links to a wide range of CPD resources. For me, this beats any of the current CPD tools available to Occupational Therapists because it is electronic and this offers a number of attractive features. My office space is small with very limited space for filing documents and files. With CPDoL, I no longer need to transport and store paper documents and heavy lever arch files - I can upload certificates and written notes, store them electronically, and then dispose of the paper as necessary. I have the option to request electronic versions of course notes and certificates for the future to upload direct into CPDoL. I can now dip into my CPD Portfolio from a number of different interface terminals, including my iphone which offers me the opportunity to update quickly after a CPD event from home, office, or train! Finally, CPDoL is visually attractive and fun to use and this is very motivating. Whereas in the past I have worried about being behind with organising my CPD documentation and slow to get on with it, I now feel confident that I will be able to keep my portfolio interesting, accurate and up to date.
H May
May 2011
Clinical Specialist OT (Older People)

I do not think I am alone when I say that I have attempted, struggled and failed on numerous occasions to find a way of recording and maintaining my CPD activities. However, the CPD online tool has finally provided me with a method of achieving what I once thought was an onerous task. What I like about the tool is that I can access it wherever I am (at work or at home) without having to carry around a huge paper file. The sections provide a step-by-step approach to recording, maintaining and evidencing CPD activities in a reflective and meaningful way. The explanation drop boxes are really helpful as they walk you through what you need to be recording. Not only does the tool provide you with opportunity to record present CPD activities it provides advice on how to develop and plan for your future CPD, so for me the tool feels like it is a living thinking and as it grows I know it will positively influence and support my career development.

For your FREE 2 week trial please click link below. £22 for 1 year subscription.
CPDoL free trial registration

WHAT IS COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a powerful way of helping clients to recognise and overcome the thinking patterns and underlying beliefs that can lead to psychological distress and restrict progress towards positive life change. It can also be a valuable personal development tool for therapists, offering a way to overcome limiting self-beliefs and thinking obstacles that may inhibit work with clients.

CBT is now widely accepted within the NHS, thanks to the recommendations of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, and is the therapy of choice for many practitioners in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. It can be used effectively in a variety of different contexts, including:

• Physical health and wellbeing; developing attitudes that facilitate lifestyle change
• Mental health; overcoming depression and anxiety, managing stress and anger issues, managing phobias
• Treating somatic disorders such as IBS
• Personal development coaching; overcoming obstacles and developing self-acceptance
• Professional development; building resilience to stress, working towards professional goals

Developed by Aaron T Beck in the 1960s and 70s, and evolving alternative forms such as Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (Ellis) and Multimodal Therapy (Lazarus), the central premise of CBT is the connection between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Our experience of ourselves, the world and other people is subjective; it depends upon core beliefs that we have developed in the course of our lives. These core beliefs dictate how we perceive and react to the problems and challenges we encounter. Negative core beliefs (“I’m a failure” or “Other people can’t be trusted” for example) generate negative thinking patterns that in turn give rise to mood states such as anger, anxiety or depression. We may then behave in unhelpful and unproductive ways as a consequence of how we feel; for example avoiding situations that take us out of our comfort zone, engaging in unhealthy habits as a way of “numbing out” or being overly aggressive or subservient in our relationships with others.

In supporting any kind of behavioural change, the client’s thoughts and beliefs about themselves and the process can make a significant difference to the outcome. The CBT approach helps clients to identify, and then to challenge and modify, thinking patterns that inhibit progress towards their goals and overall wellbeing, such as unrealistic levels of perfectionism or a fatalistic attitude towards the possibility of change. Highly collaborative, and firmly focused on the “here and now”, CBT draws on a varied and creative range of strategies to help the client establish more rational and helpful ways of thinking and behaving. These may include dispute charts and other writing-based tools, or homework exercises and practical experiments designed with the client, to test the reality of their beliefs and to try out alternative behaviours.

The complexity of the issues treated, and the depth of the intervention, will of course depend on the training and experience of the practitioner, but basic CBT skills can be learned fairly quickly and taught to clients, significantly enhancing their self-help toolkit and helping them to overcome obstacles in both the short and long term. Harrison Training’s courses provide a useful introduction to CBT skills and theory, enabling therapists to integrate this valuable approach into their work with clients.
(Chris Bowles 2011)

Cognitive Stimulation Therapy- An interesting report

A Systematic Review of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy for Older Adults with Mild to Moderate Dementia: An Occupational Therapy Perspective