Occupational Therapy

In this module, you’ll be introduced to the everyday interaction between a person, their environment and activities. While investigating the occupational therapy process you will consider the whole-person approach to mental and physical health.

You’ll also examine what effects a range of mental and physical health conditions have on occupational and social participation. Your study will include a valuable practice placement. This module will equip you with the necessary skills required to become a safe and competent occupational therapy practitioner.

Throughout your study you’ll focus on elements such as living well with long-term conditions in adulthood, enabling you to build a thorough knowledge-base and skills in assessment, intervention-planning and evaluation. By the end of the module, you’ll be prepared to work with people from all ages, and backgrounds at a group level and on a one-to-one basis, enabling you to apply your skillset to real-world situations.

In this module, you’ll learn to explore critical research methods which will enable you to digest, integrate, and apply knowledge to your occupational therapy practice. You’ll discover the importance of the research process and will implement associated research methods, recruitment, data collection, data analysis as well as the ethical considerations and risks associated with health and social care research.

You’ll train in critically reflecting on your practice in order to conclude informed and evidence-based decisions and research designs for your practice. Your study will culminate in a research proposal / project in your final year of the BSc (Hons) degree. 

You’ll focus on working with children, young people and their families, from an intervention process perspective, across a range of settings, including schools and the home environment. You’ll investigate the fascinating learning aspects of normal psycho-emotional, psycho-social and physical development, and will explore the impact of mental and physical conditions on the normal development and participation of children who are unable to lead full lives for various reasons.

You’ll look at ways to reduce or remove barriers in the everyday lifestyles of children, whether it be on a personal or interpersonal level (family), organisational (school), community (neighbourhood) or public policy. You’ll be supported by a comprehensive interdisciplinary set of professional reasoning skills, which will enrich your learning on this module. 

This module will introduce you to the interdisciplinary approach taken in a wide variety of health care practices. You’ll examine the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches, and reflect on the learning outcomes of these.

You’ll also participate in a series of enquiry-based learning activities focussed on practice-based scenarios designed to simulate working together as health care professionals in the real world. You’ll investigate the main challenges and factors influencing collaboration in health practices and use a person-centred approach to planning interventions in multi-disciplinary care. 

This module will provide you with a second professional practice placement opportunity to enhance your previous experience. You’ll consolidate, develop and apply professional skills, knowledge and reasoning relevant to your placement setting and the wider skillset of occupational therapy in practice.

Your second placement will be based in a completely new location and setting, offering you the opportunity to enhance your learning in different arenas and engage in further experience working alongside professional occupational therapists already in the field, and ready to join you in effective collaborative working. You’ll be given exciting tasks and intervention to get involved in, requiring you to self-direct your development and identify key responsibilities and interventions as you progress.

You’ll be thoroughly supported and guided by expert professional occupational therapist practioners who will train you self-evaluation and identification of your own development goals.

This final placement shall enable you to build on your previous practice experience in Years 1 & 2. You will be based in an entirely new location for your placement and will focus primarily on service evaluation and development. You’ll be encouraged to actively participate and take responsibility for implementing occupational therapy interventions and appropriate duties within the setting. You’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to make an active commitment to lifelong learning through the development of a professional portfolio. On completion of this professional practice module, you shall establish your transition onto the pathway to becoming an autonomous self-directed practitioner capable of demonstrating leadership and entrepreneurial abilities.

You’ll be offered the chance to explore contemporary themes in occupational therapy from complex health to social care contexts. You’ll be encouraged to engage in a range of workshops focusing on emerging and specialist areas of practice. You’ll be given the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills related to contemporary areas of practice through a variety of workshops designed to shape your professional development. 

This module will prepare you for an effective transition from learner level to a confident and competent autonomous practitioner, capable of anticipating the needs of those experiencing occupational injustice. You’ll exercise your entrepreneurial, innovative and advocacy skills, while combining this with your training to effectively promote occupational justice and public health. Throughout this module you’ll have access to explore policies and national and international agendas surrounding public health, sustainable healthcare and environmental concerns, adding to your repertoire of skills and practice knowledge base. 

This inter-professional module shall provide you with the skills, knowledge and strategies to promote and develop effective leadership qualities, enabling you to work in partnership within diverse teams/agencies across professional and organisational boundaries. You’ll be given the opportunity to enhance your individual professional development needs as a precursor for supporting your continuing professional development and future employment opportunities, both nationally and internationally. You’ll be encouraged to participate in interdisciplinary working with peers, combining teaching and learning activities from a variety of health and social care programmes.

Making informed decisions as an occupational practitioner is a vital part of the role. Building on your previous knowledge from Years 1 and 2, you’ll train in how to make evidence-based conclusions based on research. Guided by an allocated supervisor, you’ll be given the opportunity to develop a proposal for a relevant occupation-focused inquiry, elevation, or project. On completion of this module, you will have developed the necessary graduate competence and confidence in applying research skills to support a high level of occupational therapy delivery.

Practice placements occur each year and form an integral part of your course. You will complete three placements, each consisting of supervised workplace learning in a selected health or social care setting, which may be located in a hospital or in the community. You will become increasingly involved in the treatment of clients of different ages and with a diversity of needs. We offer a range of support mechanisms, both within the University and in the placement area, to support you through your programme of study. While on placement, you will be supported by a named member of staff known as a practice educator. We have a dedicated Practice Education Unit that provides administrative and academic support for placement learning/practice education for all pre-qualifying courses.