Aiming to support research initiatives that promote the scientific progress and the improvement of individuals’ mobility independence and quality of life, Metropolitan College’s Occupational Therapy Dept. and Institute of Occupational Science & Rehabilitation participate in WFOT’s Research Programme, themed as “Occupational Narratives Project”.
WFOT’s Research Programme seeks to promote the development of research evidence to support responsive, ethical, culturally sensitive and contextually relevant occupational therapy practice. According to the Head of the study and member of Metropolitan College’s Academic Board, Professor Gail Whiteford: “This research is conducted in order to show how different people from all over the world spend their everyday life, in their own environment, in a range of contexts and environments from a range of ages, backgrounds and ability levels“.
The project’s leading team represents the 6 regions of WHO and aims to develop an open data source. In this context, Greece is represented by Metropolitan College’s Occupational Therapy academic team, Mrs Poli Skaltsi and Dr Panagiotis Siaperas (Institute of Occupational Science and Rehabilitation coordinator).
Content is continuously updated with videos that depict simple everyday activities that are included in a human’s daily routine, such as filming & photography, fishing, playing electric guitar, knitting, working at a bakery, crafting, making coffee etc. Main goal is to increase the global understandings of the meaning of everyday “doing” or occupations of people. Research’s results will be officially launched at the WFOT Congress in Paris, in 2022. In this context, Metropolitan College’s Occupational Therapy Department students created their own video content, under the guidance of their teachers, Mrs Skaltsi and Mr Meladakis. You may watch all Metropolitan College’s student projects here: https://occupational-narratives.wfot.org/country/greece/
Students’ participation in world-class events strengthens both the academic spirit and the spirit of teamwork and collaboration. In addition, it brings them in contact with practices from around the world that enhance their potential in terms of skills and knowledge and, undeniably, helps them to build a strong network in Occupational Therapy.
It is worth mentioning that Metropolitan College’s BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy is provided in partnership with Queen Margaret University and is approved by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). Learn more here.
