Modernising Fieldwork, Part 1: Realising the Potential

Abstract

Fieldwork education has received much attention recently. Many authors have referred to a shortage of placements and highlighted the need to embrace alternative methods of placement provision. This article describes the results of a project that investigated the existing and potential placement capacity for occupational therapy students and the challenges faced by occupational therapists in health and social care. The Coventry and Warwickshire Workforce Development Confederation commissioned this project on behalf of the West Midlands Region, which was where the study was undertaken. Part 1 presents the first three themes that emerged: placement capacity and barriers to provision; creative solutions; and modernising fieldwork education. Part 2 will present and discuss two further themes: issues of context and current and future models of fieldwork education. Overall, the findings indicate that placement capacity is not being realised and that barriers to placement provision are largely organisational in nature. It is argued here that fieldwork education needs to be seen as a key component of continuing professional development and central to the modernisation agenda, not as an added extra.