2nd to 8th November 2026
Welcome to Occupational Therapy Week 2026! This year’s theme is Participation Changes Everything, and it is one that resonates with me both professionally and personally.
As an occupational therapist, much of my working life has been dedicated to supporting people to participate in the occupations that matter to them. These are the everyday activities, roles and relationships that people need, want or are expected to engage in. Whether that is getting dressed, going to work, maintaining friendships, accessing education or being part of a community, participation is fundamental to our health, wellbeing and sense of belonging.
However, participation is not always straightforward. People can experience barriers because of disability, long-term health conditions, mental health difficulties or neurodivergence. Sometimes these relate to a person’s health or functional abilities, but often they are created or made worse by inaccessible environments, inflexible systems and the attitudes of others. As occupational therapists, our role is not simply to help people develop skills, but also to identify and challenge the barriers that restrict participation.
For me, this is something I understand through both my professional experience and my own life. I have been an occupational therapist for over 25 years, and I am also a disabled person living with long-term health conditions. Following a prolonged period of serious illness in 2020 and 2021, my ability to participate in many aspects of everyday life changed significantly. Returning to work and continuing with the occupations that give my life meaning have required adjustments, support and sometimes a great deal of negotiation.
I continue to work full-time as a Lead Occupational Therapist within mental health services. Alongside this, I am studying for a master’s degree, contributing to professional networks, writing and campaigning for greater inclusion of disabled people within occupational therapy and wider society. None of this happens in isolation. My participation is made possible through assistive technology, reasonable adjustments, support from others and careful management of my energy.
This year, I thought I would do something similar to my Occupational Therapy Week blog in 2024 and share a diary of my week. I want to explore what participation looks like in my everyday life as a disabled occupational therapist, including what makes it possible and the barriers that still exist.
After all, if we believe participation changes everything, we must also ask who gets to participate, who is excluded and what needs to change.
Monday 2nd November: Participation in Employment
My working week started with a visit to one of our hospital sites, where I had several clinical supervision sessions booked with occupational therapy staff. My role as a Lead Occupational Therapist involves little direct patient contact. Instead, much of my time is spent supporting occupational therapists through clinical supervision, professional leadership, workforce development, strategic planning and clinical governance. Essentially, my role is about supporting the workforce and helping occupational therapy services continue to develop and deliver high-quality care.
I am also temporarily covering some responsibilities for another Lead Occupational Therapist who has recently retired. This meant introducing myself to members of their team, as I will be providing their clinical supervision until a replacement is recruited. Alongside this, I spent time shortlisting applicants for an Occupational Therapy Assistant vacancy and catching up on emails.
What people might not see is the preparation that goes into enabling me to participate in my working day. As a disabled person who uses a powered wheelchair and lives with long-term health conditions, I have to think carefully about how I use my energy. My husband supports me with some practical activities before leaving the house, including helping me get dressed and putting my wheelchair and work bag into the car. This allows me to conserve energy for my working day.
We sometimes talk about independence as though doing everything for ourselves should be the ultimate goal. However, for me, participation is often made possible through interdependence, recognising that we all rely on other people in different ways. Having support with one activity enables me to participate in another that is meaningful to me.
Of course, even with all that planning, things do not always go to plan! As I was leaving work, my car would not start. I contacted the AA, but I also needed to consider what would happen if the car could not be repaired and needed towing. From previous experiences, I knew that I would not be able to get into the AA recovery vehicle because it was not accessible to me as a wheelchair user. I rang my husband and asked him to come and meet me, just in case.
Fortunately, the AA managed to get the car started, although it still needed to go to a garage for further repairs. By this point, the garages were closed, so I would have to wait until Tuesday. For most people, a car breakdown is frustrating and inconvenient. For me, it also raises questions about accessible transport and what alternatives are available when something goes wrong.
Alongside my NHS role, Monday was also an important day for another part of my occupational identity. As a co-founder of AbleOTUK, a network supporting occupational therapy students and occupational therapy staff with disabilities, long-term health conditions and/or neurodivergence, I was involved in launching our Occupational Therapy Week campaign.
This year, we published an open letter highlighting the difficulties disabled people are experiencing with Access to Work, including delays, poor communication and interruptions to support. These difficulties can prevent people from entering employment, remaining in work or progressing in their careers. Our campaign asks the occupational therapy profession to recognise the impact these barriers have on occupational participation and to support calls for change.
You can read our open letter here:
Participation Changes Everything, but What Happens When Access Is Denied?
There is a clear connection between this campaign and my own experiences. I know how important the right support, reasonable adjustments and accessible environments are in enabling me to continue working. I also recognise that not everyone has access to the support they need.
Monday was a reminder that being able to work full-time does not mean that disability has no impact on my everyday life. My professional contribution is visible, but much of the preparation and support that makes it possible is not.
Tuesday 3rd November: Participation in Education and Work
Tuesday is normally my university day. I am currently halfway through a part-time master’s degree in Inequality and Society at the University of Sunderland.
Normally, I spend Tuesday mornings working before driving to Sunderland for my afternoon lecture. However, following Monday’s car problems, my plans had to change. With my car off the road, I had no accessible way of getting to university. Getting a lift from someone else is not straightforward when you use a powered wheelchair, as most cars cannot accommodate it.
Instead, I worked from home, attending several meetings on Microsoft Teams throughout the morning. One of the significant changes to working practices within the NHS following the COVID-19 pandemic has been the increased use of technology to support remote working and meetings. Although the pandemic brought enormous challenges, it also accelerated changes in how we work, demonstrating that many activities do not always require everyone to be physically present in the same place.
For disabled people, this flexibility can make a significant difference to participation in employment. Being able to join meetings remotely can reduce the need for travel, support energy management and remove some of the environmental barriers that might otherwise make attending work difficult.
During the afternoon, I spent time reading through the slides from the university lecture I had missed. Although this allowed me to engage with some of the learning, it was not quite the same as being there, listening to the discussion, asking questions and learning alongside other students. Accessing information is not necessarily the same as participating fully in education.
I also caught up on a project I have been working on within the Trust. This involves adapting an accountability workbook originally developed for occupational therapy staff into a resource for the wider Allied Health Professions workforce. The aim is to support Allied Health Professionals to develop and demonstrate their understanding of professional accountability, using the workbook as evidence of their learning and reflection.
During the day, I contacted the garage about my car, but another difficulty quickly became apparent. Even if I could get the car there, how would I get home? For many people, the solution would be relatively straightforward. They might ask for a lift, book a taxi or use public transport. However, as a powered wheelchair user, I cannot simply jump into any available vehicle. In the end, I had to wait until Wednesday, when my husband was off work and could take the car to the garage for me.
After finishing work, I spent some time promoting the AbleOTUK open letter that we launched on Monday. I also uploaded a video to Instagram about Occupational Therapy Week that I had recorded a few weeks earlier. Advocacy and professional networking are important occupations for me, providing opportunities to connect with others, share experiences and challenge barriers within our profession.
By the evening, I was ready for some downtime. My husband made tea, and we settled down to watch The Great British Bake Off before having an early night. It might seem strange to include something as ordinary as watching television in a blog about participation, but leisure, rest and spending time with people who matter to us are all important occupations. Participation is not just about employment, education or doing something productive.
Tuesday demonstrated how flexibility and technology can enable participation, while a lack of accessible transport can restrict it. I could continue working, but I could not attend university or arrange my car repairs without additional support.
Wednesday 4th November: Participation in Work and Family Life
Wednesday was another day without my car, which meant working from home again. My morning started with a Teams meeting about a chapter I am currently co-writing for the next edition of Creek’s Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. We discussed the work we have completed so far, shared feedback and considered what still needs developing. My next task is to focus on the section about goal planning, which I am hoping to spend some time writing over the weekend.
Being involved in writing for an occupational therapy textbook is something I really value. It provides an opportunity to contribute to the development of our profession, share knowledge and experience, and hopefully influence how occupational therapists think about and approach their practice.
Following this, I had two clinical supervision sessions with occupational therapy staff, both taking place over Microsoft Teams. While I prefer having these conversations face to face, particularly when discussing clinical reasoning, professional development and challenges within practice, technology meant that these sessions could still go ahead despite my transport difficulties.
At midday, it was my turn to receive clinical supervision. As a Lead Occupational Therapist, providing supervision to others is a significant part of my role, but having my own professional supervision is equally important. It allows me to reflect on my practice, discuss challenges, consider my professional development and think through some of the projects I am currently working on.
I had previously arranged with my line manager to take some time owing during the afternoon, as I needed to attend a family funeral. Once again, not having my car made things more complicated. Fortunately, my husband is off work on Wednesdays and was able to help with transport. By putting the back seats down in his car, we could accommodate my wheelchair, and he drove me to the crematorium.
At the crematorium, I met up with my dad, his wife and members of my extended stepfamily for the funeral of my step-auntie. It was a lovely service, although understandably very sad, particularly as she had been taken from us far too soon.
Following the service, I was able to make my way in my wheelchair to the pub around the corner, where the wake was being held. Earlier that morning, I had rung the venue to check how accessible it was. It turned out that my dad had also contacted them to ask the same question. I think this says something about how accessibility becomes part of the planning process, not just for disabled people themselves but often for the people around them.
I was pleased that I could attend both the funeral and the wake. It allowed me to spend time with family members I had not seen for a while, catch up with people and look through old family photographs, sharing memories and stories. These moments are an important reminder that participation is not always about doing something practical or achieving a particular outcome. Sometimes it is simply about being present and sharing important moments with others.
When I was ready to leave, I rang my husband, who came to collect me. By the time I got home, I was feeling quite exhausted. It had been an emotionally difficult day, as well as one that involved a considerable amount of planning and energy.
We decided to order a curry for tea, which meant neither of us needed to cook. Later in the evening, I helped my husband with a few tasks around the house and spoke to my mum and sister-in-law on the phone.
Before bed, I had a shower with some assistance from my husband. I use a shower chair, which enables me to manage showering more safely and comfortably. I generally prefer showering in the evening because I can take my time rather than having to fit it into an already busy morning routine before work.
Choosing when to shower, using equipment and having assistance when needed are all ways of enabling participation in personal care while managing my energy. These everyday routines are just as much a part of occupational life as the professional activities I had been involved in earlier that day.
Wednesday reminded me that participation is not always about the things we choose to do for enjoyment. Sometimes it is about being able to be there for the difficult moments in life, to grieve alongside others and to maintain the relationships that connect us.
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