Occupational Therapy Sustainability Volunteer - Getting sustainability on the curriculum!

Hi, I'm Kat, I'm a postgraduate Occupational Therapy student currently at London South Bank University. 

I first became aware of the Centre for Sustainabile Healthcare when looking for more information on the COT Code of Ethics section 2.4.2 'Resources and Sustainability', where it states that "practicioners are encouraged ‘to re-evaluate practice models and expand clinical reasoning about occupational performance to include sustainable practice’ (WFOT 2012)". I began to look more into the role of sustainability in Occupational Therapy, and presented my findings to practicing OTs on my first placement, which seemed to envoke some interesting discussions. 

From a student perspective, it seems that not enough information or guidance is given about the potential role of Occupational Therapists in sustainability. I felt, as I'm sure many others do, that climate change is an enormous problem, and felt somewhat powerless to make a difference. I was really inspired to see the work the CSH is doing, and was very keen to get involved and jumped at the chance to be an OT Sustainability Volunteer.

My role as an OT Sustainability Volunteer will be to look at how sustainability can be incorporated into higher education, and how can we develop educational resources to help students like me understand the importance of working in an environmentally sustainable way.

I'm hoping to speak to any educators about this topic, if any OT educators are reading this and would like to speak to me about any ideas you have, please feel free to email me katherine-peever@hotmail.com

Thank you!