Strategic Improvement Coach: Occupational Therapy & Research
The importance of social care professionals engaging in research is well established through its potential to generate new insights for practice and create new opportunities for professional development. This includes Occupational Therapists, who make a vital contribution to empowering people to manage their health and wellbeing and making personalised care a reality within the social care system. There are though numerous challenges which make it difficult to participate in, contribute to, or lead research, including workforce capacity, skills development, and insufficient career pathways. To understand how we can address these barriers, the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration West Midlands (ARC WM) is working with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services Principal Occupational Therapists Network to undertake a 12 month change project to facilitate engagement in research by occupational therapists.
This Strategic Improvement Coach role will lead the project and be based within the IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together) centre. This is the UK centre for implementing evidence which draws on knowledge from different types of research, the lived experience of people who draw on care and support and carers, and the practice knowledge of social care staff to improve practice and policy. IMPACT Demonstrators focus on large, strategic issues in a local system, using change management, organisational development and leadership skills to bring about evidence-informed change, in partnership with people who draw on care and support, families, social care practitioners, and policy makers.
For more information or to apply, please follow this link:
Strategic Improvement Coach at University of Birmingham
For informal discussion on the role, please contact:
Professor Robin Miller, IMPACT Demonstrator Lead: r.s.miller@bham.ac.uk