‘Challenging the profession correctly not only enhances practice but also furthers our understand of different communities.’
It is a fact that not just in occupational therapy but any profession needs to reflect the diverse population it serves, so I don’t think I need a whole blog banging on the representation drum. However, when thinking about anti-discriminatory practice, representation is only the first step. Yes, we have diverse populations we work with, and more diverse professionals with personal experience will certainly help! But we also need to educate ourselves about the populations that we work with to do better and enhance our own practice no matter what our background is.
The way to do this is to be more aware of what’s happening politically and think about this through an occupational justice lens. I know a bold sentence there involving politics and occupational justice coupled with the title of activism makes you want to immediately stop reading and think ‘this is beyond me’, right? Look, I get it it’s complicated it’s messy and not just that even if you do want to do something you don’t know what.
But this is the thing if I can do something and have done something (not saying I’ve done anything miraculous, but writing a book is being an activist) then you can.
In 2023 I was asked to do a lecture to our third-year occupational therapy students on political activism in the profession. I remember thinking me political? We’ve got an occupational therapists who’s been working a lot longer in the profession than me on the team why me? Fast forward to 2 years later I now get why I was asked and now teach 4 sessions in that module on political activism. Why? Because I am an activist. Would I peg myself as an expert on current affairs and someone who is completely knowledgeable about occupational justice and health inequalities absolutely not. But, I am willing to learn and do something about what I do know and that makes me an activist.
Within the sessions, we discuss a lot and get quite deep with the students and I often come out of the lecture feeling challenged. A big thing that we discuss is the differences between activism and advocacy. Don’t get me wrong there is definitely a place for advocacy for example if you’re just supporting an individual or community you’re working with to be the activist. But as you can imagine as an activist I always lean towards how occupational therapists should be activists and actively bettering ourselves and the profession.
Here are some examples of why activism in healthcare is needed:
- Medical gaslighting
- Women’s health
- Public health and environments e.g climate change.
But although people understand why activism is important there’s always that question of ‘what does this look like?’ And ‘how can this be practical?’. Very important questions especially the second question as yes, we want to make a difference but we also need to protect ourselves so we don’t burn out. Not only this I am also very conscious that this blog is written by a blogger and published author which doesn’t scream practical. But you can be an activist without shouting about your work from the rooftops!
So, what does this look like?
- Voting
- Signing a petition
- Watching the news and doing further research
- Getting involved in political discussions on social media
- Reading a journal article and staying up to date with current research
I bet you’ve done at least the first 2 on the list before if not more. So, you see being a political activist in the profession isn’t a hundred miles away from what you’re doing. Alright, for the occupational therapy profession to be truly challenged it takes a lot more than this but participating in some of these occupations (because they need to be meaningful) is a start. So, the next time you read something or attend a talk and think ‘yeah, that resonated with me but I can’t do that in my workplace’. Instead, think ‘but, can I still do something to be an activist?’. It’s a start and it’s a step and once you take the first step the next might be easier. Remember change requires collective activism so your small change might be making a bigger difference than you think.
Thank you for reading, let me know if you’d like more content like this because it’s something I’ve been reflecting on a lot recently and I’d be more than happy to share.
Georgia x
