Manx Care is marking national Occupational Therapy (OT) Week with a series of information and advice roadshows across the Island.
The theme this year is ‘Lift Up Your Everyday’. To mark this week (07–13 November 2022) the OT team from will be hosting roadshows around the Island highlighting and explaining more about the role of an Occupational Therapist and how they can help people to achieve this.
‘Lift Up Your Everyday’ focuses on ‘life hacks’ which equate to small actions someone can take to help them find motivation, or overcome a new or existing challenge to help them keep doing the things they love or need to do to improve their quality of life. Ideal OT life hacks will benefit lots of people, provide high impact for a low effort, be fun and easy, and free or cheap to do.
Occupational Therapy is a client-centred health profession that enables people to participate in the activities of daily living that they want to, need to or are expected do. This is achieved by education, modification of their environment or through rehabilitative interventions. To find out more about the service, please visit the Ocupational therapy page.
The OT week of activities will also focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and staying well and warm over the winter period during a rising cost of living increase.
The team will be available to chat at the roadshows as follows:
- Monday 7 November: 10am to 3pm, Ramsey & District Cottage Hospital
- Tuesday 8 November: 10am to 3pm, Community Health Centre, Westmoreland Road, Douglas
- Wednesday 9 November: 10am to 3pm, Independent Living Centre, Ballakermeen Road, Douglas and at Noble’s Hospital, Braddan
- Thursday 10 November: 10am to 3pm, Community Health Centre, Westmoreland Road, Douglas
- Friday 11 November: 10am to 3pm, Ramsey & District Cottage Hospital
There’s been an increase of 82% in demand for OT-led rehabilitation services in the UK since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Occupational Therapists offer community-focused interventions, with UK statistics showing one in four people will experience a mental health difficulty affecting performance and functional abilities during their lifetime. Occupational Therapists provide bespoke individual mental health programmes to support a faster recovery during difficult times.
Sarah Gordon, Manx Care’s Interim Professional Lead for Occupational Therapy, commented:
'We would like to make the public more aware of the wide range of services Occupational Therapy offers on the Island, and hopefully the roadshows next week highlight this. If we can get people to think and explore different ways of approaching problems they may have then we will have achieved our goal. Hopefully members of the public will come along during this week and start thinking about little steps that make a difference!'
Additional information
Occupational Therapy services on the Isle of Man include:
- Inpatient Occupational Therapy Services (for those staying in hospital)
- Outpatient Occupational Therapy Services – these include hand therapy, rheumatology, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation
- Occupational Therapists also work within the community with adults (CATS). These services include home visits, neurological long term conditions and support from the Independent Living Centre
- Children’s Therapy services are offered to children under 16
- Older people can also access OT services if they need support with memory problems, generalised anxiety, depression or long-term mental health needs
- Adult Mental Health Occupational Therapy services are available within the Mental Health teams. This integrated Mental Health OT approach provides 1:1 appointments, community sessions, home visits and group therapy sessions
