UCD Disability Services – Occupational Therapy Support

Main idea

The Occupational Therapy Service is a student-centred and confidential service in which students work 1:1 with an Occupational Therapist in order to develop the necessary academic, social and personal skills for fulfilling their role as a UCD student. Occupational Therapy is a client-centred health profession, focused on the promotion of health & well-being by working collaboratively with people to enable them to participate in the activities or "occupations" of everyday life which they need and want to do in order to fulfil their valued roles. The Occupational Therapy Service is prioritised for first year students who are transitioning to UCD and college life.

Outline

UCD Occupational Therapy (OT) Services 

The Occupational Therapy Service is a student-centred, confidential service in which students work 1:1 with a qualified Occupational Therapist in order to develop the necessary academic, social and personal skills for fulfilling their role as a UCD student.

Occupational Therapy is a client-centred health profession, focused on the promotion of health & well-being by working collaboratively with people to enable them to participate in the activities or “occupations” of everyday life which they need and want to do in order to fulfil their valued roles. The Occupational Therapy Service is prioritised for first year students who are transitioning to UCD and college life.

Students can learn more about the Occupational Therapy Service at their needs assessment or they can attend the Disability Support drop-in hours, from 11am-12pm Monday through Thursday during term time. Students can be referred for OT support at their needs assessment. There are two OT’s employed by UCD Access and Lifelong Learning Centre. 

In striving for a University for All, UCD Access & Lifelong Learning provides disability training, and specific Autism Awareness training, for academic and administrative staff throughout the university.  It is not part of the curriculum.

Steps for students to engage with OT support service  

• Students complete a Needs Assessment 
• A referral is made to the Occupational Therapy Support Service  support by the Needs Assessor
• Students are asked to complete a Consent Form 
• Students are asked to complete the Trinity Student Occupational Performance Profile (TSOPP) – a self-report measure of occupational performance difficulties within the student role for students with mental health disabilities which is based on the Person-Environment-Occupation model.

Students can be supported throughout the duration of their studies, or they can access support on a needs basis. Support is prioritised for incoming first year students to assist in the transition to university.

Goals

The main objective is to support students in the academic, social and personal aspects of their student role, as well as managing the transition to university and ensuring support is in place  throughout the student journey.

Target group

• Students with (mental) health problems
• First year students experiencing occupational difficulties related to student role.

Obstacles targetted:

• Disability
• Educational difficulties
• Social obstacles

Students involvement

• Needs assessments are student led processes. 
• Occupational Therapy is client centred and in this context it is a student centred service  – student’s drive what they want to focus on and they can, based on need, engage and re-engage as needed with the support service. 
• Evaluation forms are sent to all students who have engaged with the service to get feedback, this is sent towards the end of the academic year. Feedback on the current service and suggestions for future development are sought.

Inspiration and evidence

UCD Occupational Therapy service has a number of theoretical underpinnings including Unilink but UCD also has a University for ALL approach,  sometimes contributing to wider university projects. The below document from page 9 has the UCD example of this and gives a description of the theoretical underpinnings of the service https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Occupational-Therapy-in-Higher-Education-June-2021-edited-by-Dr.-Eithne-Hunt-CC-BY_NC_ND-4.0.pdf

Success criteria

The success of the service is often highlighted through qualitative feedback and students individually reporting how much the OT supports helped them.

Points of attention

The service needs to be sufficiently resourced so it is important to know the numbers of students that may access the service.

Effectiveness

Yes, through the Quality Assurance that takes place every 5 years

• An annual report is submitted each year about the OT service 
• A record is kept of the number of students accessing the service
• An overview of the profile of students accessing the service is noted in the report  
• Feedback gathered is reviewed regularly

Do you feel you can effectively provide the support that students require?

We strongly agree.

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

strongly agree

Evaluation

A Quality Assurance assessment is undertaken every 5 years. 

• Feedback is sought from students accessing the service each year. 
• Students complete a TSOPP form at regular intervals (e.g., at the start of every trimester). 
• Students are asked regularly to give feedback. 
• Recommendations are incorporated where feasible.

Communication

• E-zine – the UCD Student Newsletter 
• DARE Entry Pathway 
• Social Media 
• Word of mouth 
• Website 
• The Disability Service writes to Module Coordinators every trimester and we will now also be contacting PhD supervisors in a similar way. 
• The UDL Module on the universities VL system which all staff are encouraged to take, includes a part on compliance re legislation and the role of the Disability Service. 
• Promotion of the service is also done during orientation.
• Direct emails to students

Timing

It is recommended that students arrange supports as early as possible.  However, students can arrange support at any time during the academic year. The principle of the service is to focus support on first year’s in the first instance, with the idea being that they will become more autonomous as they progress through the university system. 

Day information

During regular ‘school’ hours.

Resources

• Specialised staff  (i.e., qualified and CORU-registered Occupational Therapists)
• Administration
• Specific Funding
• Assessment Sensory items
• Office Space
• Group Space

Extra information

• UCD Occupational Therapy service has a number of theoretical underpinnings including Unilink.
• Click here for further information but UCD also have a University for ALL approach, sometimes contributing to wider university projects
• The below document from page 9 has the UCD example of this and gives a description of the theoretical underpinnings of the service

Transferability

We think it is easily transferable to other contexts or groups.

This service model works very well within its context. It would be something that could be easily transferred to another setting and has been in the past. It would just need to be sufficiently resourced so it is important to know the numbers of students that may access the service.