USA Role Emerging Placement 2019

A project by: Hope Bradley

Successful

WE RAISED £2,695

from 35 donors

This project received pledges on Fri 23 Nov 2018
Occupational Therapy Role Emerging Placement at Rocky Mountain College, USA

A short summary of MY project

I am a final year BSc Occupational Therapy student, trying to raise £2,000 to help fund my trip to the USA in January 2019. The purpose of this trip is to complete my 3-week Role Emerging Placement (REP) at Rocky Mountain College (RMC) in Billings, Montana. I will be working with the staff and students of RMC to help tackle the stigma surrounding mental health and to introduce techniques such as money and stress management to positively influence their everyday lives.

MY story

The purpose of a Role Emerging Placement (REP) is to promote professional competence and confidence through the implementation and evaluation of the occupational therapy process, in a setting where there is potential for an occupational therapy service. Throughout my three-week work placement, I will demonstrate how the occupational therapy process can work within an emerging area of practice and how the profession can continue to develop and expand within the role emerging context. I believe there is potential for an Occupational Therapy role to emerge in the Rocky Mountain College Health Centre and International Department as students and staff alike could benefit from both one-to-one and group therapy sessions.

My aim is to embrace community engagement and tackle the stigma surrounding mental health. I would deliver presentations advocating the value of occupation based activity, stress reduction techniques and mindfulness workshops, alongside drop-in sessions, in a structured therapeutic environment. This would help to improve the health, well-being and quality of life of both students and staff at Rocky Mountain College.

My objectives are to identify the potential role for occupational therapy in a college health centre and to further develop my confidence in applying professional knowledge and skills. I will strive to promote the role of Occupational Therapy within the health centre while broadening my approach to healthcare delivery. I hope to identify opportunities for future development of the profession and it would be a privilege to be a part of embedding the service and networking with other professionals at the college.

Without funding, I would be unable to proceed with my plans to complete my REP at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. This would have a negative impact on the potential beneficiaries, including myself, the college, its staff, students, and the profession of Occupational Therapy. My placement is time bound as we have been allocated a 3-week period in January 2019 to complete it so there isn’t an option to postpone the placement dates. Without funding, the staff and students at Rocky Mountain College wouldn’t benefit from the opportunity to avail of my knowledge and skills as an Occupational Therapy student. If I am successful, this award would significantly help to support the cost (outlined below) of my REP given its location in the USA. The Occupational Therapy profession would also benefit as throughout my three-week work placement, I will demonstrate how the occupational therapy process can work within an emerging area of practice and how the profession can continue to develop and expand within the role emerging context.

Where will the money go?

Total cost of trip: ~£2200+

 Flights: ~£1000+ BFS – BIL (return)

 Accommodation: ~£800 (for the duration of the 3-week placement)

 Travel from accommodation to place of work: ~£60 (public transport for 3 weeks)

 Travel insurance: ~£50

 Visa Wavier: ~£10

 Materials for use during work placement: ~£30

 General living costs: ~£250 (food etc) 

Rewards

I have arranged various rewards to thank everyone who donates, whatever the amount you might give. Check them out! 

Find ME ON THE SOCIALS

Please feel free to add me on Facebook where I will be posting regular updates on the progress of my fundraising campaign and my Role Emerging Placement at Rocky Mountain College. You can also follow me on Twitter @HopeForOT (but please bear in mind I’m new to Twitter)! 

Help ME succeed!

Please help me with my project in any way that you can. You don't need to give money to help me succeed. Please share this project with anyone you think would support me – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat with your neighbour or on your blog – whatever it happens to be. In fact, share it with everyone you know as I think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely I am to make this work out brilliantly. You don't need to give money to help me, but I'd love it if you did! Please sponsor me and help make this happen.