Diversity and equality among students, clients and practicing occupational therapists

1. Diversityand equalityamong students, clients and practicingoccupationaltherapists By : Frida Ambros, Karin Blomkvist-Sporre & Hanni Ringmar From: The Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

2. Relation to theme: Representation • Purpose of the project It was the year of diversity and equality and we wanted to organize this day to acknowledge this on our school and to our fellow OT students.

3. Project implementation • The day started with a quick presentation of what the plans for the day were. Then a lecture was held by an ethnologist. She talked about what problems concerning equality and diversity that can arise between healthcare personnel and clients.

4. After the lecture the students were divided into three groups, with students from different semesters. All students went to three different workshops: • Workshop with art & a discussion • Workshop with theatre & a discussion • Workshop with games and reflections

5. Workshop 1: Art and discussion: • All students were given different notes containing information about a cultural context. Students were then asked to imagine themselves being that person and individually use paint to illustrate their thoughts. • Having done that, the students were asked the question on how they could fulfil their dream of becoming an occupational therapist in that specific cultural context. The students then discussed this question and talked about prejudices.

6. Workshop 2:Theatre and discussion: • The group was divided in to smaller groups with three persons in each. Each group was given a case and then one of the group members were asked to play the role of an occupational therapist, and the other persons played patients and/or a relative. • The cases were about different problems regarding diversity and equality. The group was asked to makes a small scene out of this and play it to the rest of the group. • After they had played their scene there were discussions and questions were posed on how to solve the problem and how to deal with the feelings that had aroused.

7. Workshop 3: Games and reflections: • The students played a game where they were supposed to divide themselves into smaller groups based on if they had a given “topic” together or not. Then the groups were mixed and then they were supposed to find something that they had in common with each other in this new group. • The purpose of this game was for the students to learn that you can find something that you have in common with almost any person you meet. • After the game the students reflected around groups, for example; how you can be equal in a group.

8. After the workshops all the students came together and talked about what they had done during the day. They were asked to say words that they had found important and inspiring during the day. Then they used those words and wrote a poem together.

9. Project results • We were very interested in what the students thought about the day. Therefore we asked each student to fill up a questionnaire. • We asked them what was positive and negative about the day, what they think would be good to change and what thoughts they were going to take with them.

10. The things they were most positive about was the workshops because they were fun and interesting. • They also thought it was fun to met other OT students and they liked the whole concept of the day.

11. The things they thought was negative was that the lecture was to long. • Some students also thought that the lecture did not have so much relevance for them as OT students.

12. In the future the students wanted to have more time, more theatre and more workshops. • They also wanted more discussions and time to reflect around equality and diversity. • The thoughts that they took with them were very different from each other, but most of them thought about new things that they had realised or learned.

13. Project impact on the society or university • Since all the students were so positive to having a day with focus on equality and diversity, a day like this will most likely be held each semester on the OT programme on Karolinska Institutet.

14. Recommendation for future OT’s • We recommend other students, teachers and practicing occupational therapists to have a day of equality and diversity. • These things are important to reflect upon. That is why a day like this is good to have to open our minds and talk about our prejudice so we can be aware of them. • To be able to see all the possibilities with diversity and to treat all people respectfully are also important in our occupation.

15. Thank you for you attention! If you have any questions. Welcome to contact: Frida Ambros (frida_ambros@hotmail.com) Karin Blomkvist Sporre (karin.blomkvist-sporre.300@student.ki.se) Hanni Ringmar (hanni.ringmar.910@student.ki.se)