During February a new OT Facebook Group was launched Photos4OT. This got us to thinking about the topic of photography and thought it would be good chat topic too. So we will be dedicating the chat at 8pm on the 3rd Match 2015 to the broad topic of photography. (click to check your local time).

The Photos4OT group has the following description:

This group is part of the suite of Facebook groups created by occupational therapists for networking.
Here, you can post photos under the general topic of Occupational Therapy and on specific topics, such as:
Occupation and participation;
Occupational Therapy intervention;
Tools for Occupational Therapy;
Occupation Therapy outcomes;
You can add other topics.
Be creative.

Do join if this is an area you wish to explore further.

During the chat on the 3rd March please share your photographs, idea. thoughts and of course any resources you may have.

Some idea to get you thinking:

Are you a photographer?

What do you do with your photographs?

Do you only use photography in your personal life or have you used it therapeutically?

Have you been involved in any photography groups? Do you plan to? This could be a great chat to ask questions or share your idea?

To get the sharing going I completed the 366 challenge in 2012, I shared one photograph a day, every day, for a year. Helen’s 366 for 2012 I am considering doing this again in 2015. Please share if you have done this or any other photography related projects.

Please be mindful that all photographs shared will be public. Do think about privacy and permission to share.

You are reminded to respect copyright laws and the intellectual property of any photograph you share during the chat. Adherence to copyrights laws or intellectual property will be responsibility of the individual who posted the content.

The photography used in this post was from a royalty free sharing site and uploaded by Wilma Birdwell

If you would like to use your participation in the chat for your CPD please take a look at our resources section.

Post chat updates:

The Numbers

590,569 Impressions
311 Tweets
52 Participants

#OTalk Participants

Healthcare HashTags Online Transcript. 

PDF #OTalk – Healthcare Social Media Transcript 3 Mar 2015

Tuesday 17th February 2015 8pm GMT Time Zone Conversion 

Chat to be hosted by Vandita Chisholm @VanditaChisholm BAOT/COT Marketing Manager, Responsible for promoting occupational therapy, annual conference and member services

You may be aware that Ruby Wax, celebrity mental health campaigner, television personality, comedian and award winning writer will be opening the 2015 College of Occupational Therapists Annual Conference #COT2015. When this news was announced it was met with a lot of excitement and is considered to be quite a coup for the College. Ruby after all is not only all of the above, but has studied Psychotherapy and has recently gained a Master’s degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy from Oxford University.

Ruby has been very open about her bouts of depression that she calls black dog ( see links below for further information) and it seems that more and more celebrities are using their fame to de-stigmatise mental health problems by being open about their own personal experiences.

In these days of celebrity watching and dare I say it worship, it is encouraging that celebrities are able to be open about their flaws and limitations. This has not only been embraced and supported by their fans, but has also creates a new fan base and support.  During the  recent commemoration of the 50^th anniversary Winston Churchill’s  funeral, the media talked quite openly about Winston Churchill’s manic depression, which he also referred to his ‘black dog’ and some commentators have partly attributed his mental health illness to his greatness as a war time leader.

But let’s not limit this blog to mental health conditions, you only have to look back a couple of years to witness the emergence of athletes who have achieved international greatness through the Paralympics, The likes of Hannah Cockroft, David Weir, Eleanor Simmonds are household names inspiring the nation because of their sheer determination to win and achieve.

So I am interested in hearing your views on:

a) how does celebrity openness about their health conditions help your service users come to terms with their conditions – does this make it easier for your practice or not?

b) how the current climate for ‘celebrity’ impacts on our occupational choices, and what if any impact has this had on your practice?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Further resources reference ‘Black Dog’

I had a black dog, his name was depression – http://youtu.be/XiCrniLQGYc

Living With a Black Dog – http://youtu.be/2VRRx7Mtep8

The Black Dog Campaign: http://www.sane.org.uk/what_we_do/black_dog/

Post chat updates:

The Number

663,450 Impressions
363 Tweets
53 Participants

#OTalk Participants

HealthCare Hashtags Transcript Online.

PDF #OTalk – Healthcare Social Media Transcript 17 Feb 15