Occupational Therapists and Access

This year has seen an increased interest from Occupational Therapists’ (OTs) to learn more about the accessible journey.

OTs help people to identify the occupations that are difficult for them. This could be due to problems with physical abilities, for example, strength or co-ordination, or mental abilities, for example, memory or organisation skills. Part of their work is to evaluate homes and work places, and give adaptation recommendations for the built environment. They may also assess student learning environments and suggest changes to make schools and other education facilities more accessible.

Our Education Project Manager Jula Goebel presented with Fiona Mains (Lecturer, School of Occupational Therapy, Otago Polytechnic) at the NZ Association of Occupational Therapists (NZAOT) conference in September. The workshop, Inclusive Design – Making it Happen, covered Universal Design principles, Collaborative Practice, Design and Sustainability, and the Accessible Journey. The focus was to encourage OTs to think of these principles in their daily practice, to broaden their thinking to public facilities rather than individual adaptations, and to show more interest in the accessible journey. 

There was an excellent turnout of OT at this workshop, and we look forward to training more OT on Barrier Free Training.