Christine, can you tell us about a little bit about you?
I currently work as an allied health profession (AHP) Dementia Consultant in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde but graduated as an Occupational Therapist (OT) over 25 years ago. I am fortunate enough to have had a very varied career and have worked in a range of different care settings. After starting off in acute care, I moved to adult community mental health and from there spent time in day hospital settings, addictions, brain injury rehabilitation, practice development and in-patient mental health.
Christine, why did you want to be an Occupational Therapist?
I count myself very lucky for having fallen into the profession, after family & friends suggested I would be well suited to OT! As a teenager, I knew very little about who OTs were or what they did but the more I found out, the more I realised it was the career for me. My maiden name was “Work” and my father used to always say to me “Work by name, work by nature!” I still joke that there may have been some nominative determinism involved in guiding me down the path to occupational therapy!
Christine, what is your current role in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde?
I no longer work specifically as an Occupational Therapist and instead am employed as an Allied Health Professional Dementia Consultant. My role isn’t specific to one part of the care pathway and I work with all different AHP groups, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, radiographers, orthotists and prosthetists.
Christine, what does a typical day look like for you?
One of the best things about my role is that there really isn’t a typical day! The nature of my post brings me into contact with lots of different people and offers a huge variety of opportunities. Some days I could be teaching – this could be at a University, a learning event or providing an in-service to a local team. Other times it could me much more practical and hands on, like carrying out an environmental audit of a clinical area or providing support with complex clinical issues. Improvement is at the heart of my role; making sure AHP skills and knowledge are maximised to get the best possible outcomes for people living with dementia who access our services. So, this can vary from small quality improvement projects within individual teams & their service users; to developing and testing tools and resources across services; right up to being part of groups creating National guidelines (such as the recent SIGN guideline on the assessment, diagnosis, care and support for people with dementia and their carers) to support evidence based practice.
Christine, what’s the most inspiring part of your role?
It’s hard to put this into words but it’s the points where you can see a difference has been made. When you hear positive feedback from service users or a staff member tells you how training has impacted on their practice. That’s a good feeling!
Christine, what advice would you offer other AHPs who are working in NHS Glasgow and Clyde?
Focus on your strengths! It sometimes feels like there is a pressure to be good at everything. As I developed through my profession I struggled with some elements of operational management but got really excited by strategy and policy. I worried about the natural progression to leading a service and wasted a lot of energy trying to change myself. I then learned about “Strengths Based Leadership” and decided to focus my energy on building on my existing strengths rather than trying to compensate for my weaknesses. To quote Dr Seuss “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”
Christine, where can people with lived experience find out more about your role as an AHP Dementia Consultant?
That’s a very good question! I am the only AHP Dementia Consultant within NHS Scotland but information on AHPs and how we can help people living with dementia can be found here Allied Health Professionals | Alzheimer Scotland (alzscot.org) or you can find me on X @ChristineAHP