Michelle, can you tell us about a little bit about you?
I completed my BSc in Occupational Therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, graduating in 2000. Since then I have been lucky enough to work in a variety of different settings, spending most of my career working in mental health services. I have worked with adults and older adults in both in-patients and community and I am currently working within an older adult community mental health team, where I have been for approximately 14 years.
Michelle, why did you want to be an Occupational Therapist?
When I was in high school, a family member received some aids and equipment from an occupational therapist. I thought it was impressive how some small changes made a big difference to them. I decided to find out more about this and spend some time shadowing occupational therapists and quickly knew it was the career for me.
Michelle, what is your current role in Inverclyde HSCP?
I am based within the Older Adults Community Mental Health Team and the main focus of my role is early intervention for people living with dementia or presenting with memory difficulties. I work collaboratively with service users and those who support them, to find ways to reduce the impact that memory difficulties (and other symptoms of dementia) may have on everyday life. I do this by helping people learn new ways of doing things, introducing compensatory strategies to daily life or exploring and adapting their environment to make it ‘work’ for them.
Michelle, what does a typical day look like for you?
One of the things I love about my job is that every day is different! Days are filled with visiting people within their homes, facilitating groups in the community for people living with dementia, supporting memory assessment processes, linking in with colleagues and local services and attending multi-disciplinary meetings.
Michelle, what’s the most inspiring part of your role?
The part of my job that inspires me the most is seeing service users growing in confidence. Often people are feeling worried about the future when I first visit and feel their confidence has been affected. After a short while people usually realise that they can still do all the things that are important and matter to them.
Michelle, what advice would you offer other Occupational Therapists who are working in older adult’s mental health setting?
Make links with other occupational therapists in different localities. I find it really inspiring to speak with others and find out what they are doing. I would also encourage people to find out about the Journeying through Dementia group. This is something that we have been lucky enough to be involved with for the past few years and it is one of my favourite parts of my job!
Michelle, where can people with lived experience find out more about your role as an occupational therapist?
The Alzheimer Scotland website has great information about the role of Allied Health Professionals and evidence based self-management resources that you can find here
Information is also readily available through the Inverclyde HSPC that you can find here
Contributor
Michelle Murray, Specialist Occupational Therapist, Inverclyde HSPC.
