Medical Employment Agency New Zealand & United Kingdom, Medical Staffing International

Medical Staffing International/ NZAOT Occupational Therapy Achievement Award 2009

Elderly people, the homeless, taggers and bed rest patients all benefit from students’ OT proposals.

Year Three Occupational Therapy students at AUT have been working hands-on with community organisations, thanks to a new paper introduced by this year’s Award winner Jenni Mace.

As Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at Auckland University of Technology, Jenni developed “Promoting Occupational Justice and Participation” for the new curriculum. Students provide proposals for population groups who experience occupational injustice and barriers to participating in their communities.

Last year the students worked with a diverse range of community groups:

Elderly people who can no longer drive and are at risk of serious occupational deprivation if they can no longer get about.
North Shore City police to divert taggers into more productive occupations.
New immigrants, who are involved in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and frequently feel isolated.
Lifewise, to involve people into street football and enable them to participate in the Homeless World Cup in Australia.

“That’s just a small selection of the projects,” says Jenni. “The students initially get quite excited that they’re working with real organisations and that their proposals can make a difference to so many people. But by the second or third week they realise just how challenging it is! This year there’s a high chance that there’ll be some exciting outcomes to the projects, including two new primary health care posts, a community garden and a safe space for homeless women.”

“Winning this Award is a real honour,” says Jenni. “Thank you so much to NZAOT and Medical Staffing International and I’d also like to thank my students, as they’re the ones putting in the hard work to make the paper successful.”

Jenni is planning to start a PhD at the end of the year: “I have a lengthy history of working with homeless families in the UK, and my PhD will be based on New Zealand families living in temporary accommodation, and how this affects their everyday occupations. Winning the Award will enable me to travel overseas to gather information and support not available in New Zealand.”

Knowing the People Planning - Kim Henneker

The Award enabled last year’s winner, Kim Henneker, to attend an AUT writers’ retreat so she could complete and submit an article for publication on her work on “Knowing the People Planning (KPP)”.

“Winning the Award really opened some doors for me,” says Kim. “It’s given me the confidence to move towards a qualitative research project about the experience of mental health consumers engaging with services.”

Kirsten Thomforde at Medical Staffing International, who sponsors this annual Award, comments: “The work that’s being done by Jenni and Kim and so many other OTs keeps the profession very relevant to today’s societal challenges. Like all professions OT needs to evolve to future-proof itself in a fast-changing and competitive world.”

For more information on the Medical Staffing International/NZAOT Occupational Therapy Achievement Awards >

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