Occupational Therapy News OTnews January 2019 | Page 35

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FEATURE Di Bona et al (2017) conducted a qualitative study to improve understanding about enablers of, and challenges to, occupational therapists’ research engagement. Occupational therapists (n=28) from eight healthcare organisations that participated in the Valuing Active Life in Dementia research programme took part in focus groups. Thematic analysis revealed two main themes, ‘research challenges’ and ‘research enablers’, and associated sub-themes. Challenges included recruitment, delivering a new intervention and overwhelming paperwork; whilst peer and management support, protected time and positive attitudes were found to enable research involvement. The authors identify the need for multifaceted collective action to minimise challenges and maximise enablers, so that occupational therapists are supported to engage with research as part of clinical practice. research here: Find out what are your staff interested in: scope your areas of clinical practice and identify potential research topics. To enthuse staff’s interest in research, it needs to be an area that they want to consolidate or improve. Find collaborators: as clinicians we cannot work in isolation. We need to develop a support link with academic colleagues in local universities, undergraduate, post-graduate students, the research and development office within your trust and clinical research networks. Seek out funding: research costs money. It is important to explore various avenues for funding. Small amounts may be available within your own trust or local authority to support your team in preparation for developing your research proposal. This may allow time-out for clinical staff to work on a proposal, provision of equipment, production of information leaflets and treatment protocols. Larger funding amounts may be sourced from condition specific charities, government initiatives or within our own profession, for example the RCOT Annual Awards for Learning Development and Research or the UK Occupational Therapy Research Foundation (UKOTRF). Develop resilience: the research journey is not without its pitfalls. The process, paper work and procedures that have to be followed, especially if seeking ethical approval, can be complex and tedious. You may have to deviate from your original plans and good team support is vital to keep teams going. Sometimes you need to take time out to ‘reflect and re-group’. Be an encourager: I have found taking the opportunity to be involved in research gives great encouragement and positivity within our team. We have been given many opportunities to showcase our work locally, regionally and nationally. Patricia says: ‘Our involvement in the world of research as clinicians has brought many challenges, but also great satisfaction and sense of achievement. The journey has included juggling the Reference Di Bona L, Wenborn J, Field B, Hynes SM, Ledgerd R, Mountain G, Swinson T (2017) Enablers and challenges to occupational therapists’ research engagement: a qualitative study. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80(11), 642–650 She has been the motivator and encourager for her team to dip their toe into research. In 2011, she established research links with Dr Alison Porter-Armstrong, senior occupational therapy lecturer from the Institute of Nursing and Health Research, Ulster University, to form a research interest group within her department. From these small beginnings research involvement has included studies into seating on a rehabilitation ward and upper limb stroke rehabilitation. In 2014, Patricia was a co-applicant on a successful RCOT UK Occupational Therapy Foundation Research Priority Grant funding application. This funding allowed completion of a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) of Mirror Box Therapy in upper limb rehabilitation with sub-acute stroke patients. In July this year the research team gained further funding from Cross-border Healthcare Intervention Trials in Ireland Network (CHITIN), which will allow them to complete a cross-border full powered RCT of mirror box therapy in upper limb rehabilitation. Patricia outlines her five top tips for engaging staff in and with balance of clinical demands with protected time for research. ‘This experience has inspired our occupational therapy department to further embrace the research process and to be proactive in bridging the gap between clinical practice and academic research. ‘It has been exciting to watch our ideas grow into fruition over the last eight years. Now that we have tested the waters of research we realise that it is a vast ocean of opportunities. It reinforces the principle that evidence based practice and research can and should be an integral component of clinical practice. ‘So, as a manager of a small occupational therapy department who, yes, still have to meet the increasing demands of our day-to- day clinical work, I challenge other occupational therapy managers to take up the research challenge.’ Natalie Jones is acting head of occupational therapy at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and research impact fellow with the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Yorkshire Humber (CLAHRC YH), where she is developing a research impact tool for the NHS. She is the research lead for acute therapy services and employs two research therapists in a clinical research facility to deliver and develop occupational therapy and physiotherapy research. With over 24 years of experience, her research interests include stroke and assistive technologies and she demonstrates her commitment to supporting her teams to engage in and with research through her own achievements. Natalie is the founder and lead of a collaborative research OTnews January 2019 35