Florence House Mother and Baby Unit and Community Perinatal Mental Health Team- shared

Florence House Mother and Baby Unit and Community Perinatal Mental Health Team

Placement has been set up across an established Mother and Baby Unit and Community Perinatal Mental Health Team, under the supervision of two full time occupational therapists.
Day to day activities include multidisciplinary team meetings, occupational therapy assessments, occupational therapy groups, goal setting sessions, occupational therapy interventions and evaluations. This also includes documentation and time for reflection.
The placement also offers opportunities to shadow generic working including risk assessing, core assessments, social care meetings and wellbeing plans
Depending on the competency of the student and if appropriate then students can either shadow the above activities, lead on them with occupational therapist’s support or lead on these independently
Students are supported by full-time occupational therapists. They are also supported by the wider MDT and management team
Students receive weekly supervision, halfway report, and a full-time report. We also encourage students to visit the unit prior to the placement starting to answer any questions and alleviate any concerns
Students are also able to attend the student support group within Dorset Healthcare

Some clients decline to have students involved in their care
Can be tricky to be involved in wider NHS objectives and initiatives
Working with people with challenging histories and presentations can be overwhelming for students

I would encourage students to link in with services prior to placement starting
Students come with a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be an asset to a clinical placement
Ask lots of questions!
If an OT is part-time or works flexibly then I would encourage shared placements. Sharing students across the services give students a variety of opportunities and for practitioners to share the workload of having students