
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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