Podcast
OT conversations
Hosted by Hao · EN
This is a UK-based Occupational Therapy podcast expressing personal clinical experiences, views, and aspirations for occupational therapy practice in the UK. It is aimed to help OT students and clinicians navigate their way through their clinical practice involving occupational therapy. When it gets controversial, it is Rant Involving Occupational Therapy. When I talk about foundation OT knowledge, it is Relevant Information about OT. When I celebrate amazing people I encounter, It's Rollicking Individuals of OT. If I 'yap' about anything I fancy, then, it is Random Information about Ordinary things. Whatever the theme, this OT conversation is a RIOT Conversation. Enjoy - HAO
Disclaimer: Topics discussed are personal opinions and do not represent any professional body or Trust/Health organization.
17episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The UK OT model no one named
2d ago00:20:21Tap to summarizeThe UK doesn’t have a single, named occupational therapy model — and that isn’t a failure of theory. It’s a reflection of how UK OT actually works. In this episode, we unpack why UK practice grew without a branded model, how the NHS, social care, housing, and MDT culture shaped a different kind of professional reasoning, and why many experienced OTs feel uneasy saying “I don’t really use a model.” This conversation reframes that discomfort as maturity: model-literate, not model-bound practice. If you’ve ever felt that real OT work doesn’t fit neatly into diagrams, this episode puts words to what you’re already doing.
Transcribe →Restoring Trust: What Occupational Therapy Really Does
1w ago00:10:19Tap to summarizeWhen illness or injury strikes, people don’t just lose function—they lose trust. Trust in their bodies, their routines, and their place in the world. In this episode, we explore what Occupational Therapy really does beneath the surface of washing, dressing, mobilising, and discharge planning. This is a reflective conversation about how ordinary activities become the rehearsal space for life itself, and how trust—quietly rebuilt through meaningful action—is often the true outcome of good OT practice. Ideal for clinicians, students, and anyone curious about the deeper work of recovery beyond checklists and independence scores.
Transcribe →Habits, Identity, and Why Change Fails at Work
2w ago00:16:08Tap to summarizeWhy do people push back against change—even when the evidence is clear and the outcome is better?In this episode, we unpack why resistance to change isn’t about stubbornness, laziness, or poor attitude. It’s about how the brain protects familiarity, identity, and psychological safety—especially in high-pressure workplaces like healthcare.Using an Occupational Therapy lens, this conversation explores habits, routines, professional identity, and why confidence rarely comes before change. We look at why pushing harder often fails, and why the same rehabilitation principles we use with patients are exactly what staff need during service redesign, new pathways, and cultural shifts at work.This episode is for clinicians, leaders, and educators who are tired of calling it “resistance” and want to understand what’s really happening underneath.Listen if you’ve ever thought:“This change makes sense… so why does it feel so hard?”
Transcribe →Perceptions on use of AMPAC : a journal review
3w ago00:23:58Tap to summarizeThis is a journal review regarding the perceptions OT in the usefulness of AMPAC - a journal review.
Transcribe →Responsibility is the prerequisite of clinical confidence
May 500:11:16Tap to summarizeThis episode challenges the belief that clinicians must feel confident before taking on responsibility. Drawing from real clinical culture and training environments, the episode reframes confidence not as a prerequisite for responsibility, but as a product of experience. It explores how avoidance disguised as safety can stall professional growth, and why scaffolded responsibility—rather than early escalation—builds capable, safe practitioners.Key Themes:Confidence as an outcome, not a starting pointResponsibility as a training tool, not a rewardThe hidden cost of removing responsibility “to be kind”Graduated responsibility vs. avoidanceWhy discomfort is a normal and necessary stage of developmentReframing safety around systems and escalation, not confidenceCore Message:If confidence is treated as a prerequisite, learning never begins.If responsibility is scaffolded, confidence is manufactured.Who This Episode Is For:Band 5 and Band 6 cliniciansSupervisors and practice educatorsService leads involved in workforce developmentAnyone navigating learning, responsibility, and professional confidenceTakeaway:Feeling unsure does not mean you are not ready.Responsibility—when bounded and supported—is how clinicians are built.
Transcribe →When Helping Early Does Not Help Band 5s
Apr 2800:11:30Tap to summarize“Complex cases often get passed upward quickly—in the name of safety, support, or efficiency.But what if that very act is the reason our juniors never feel ready?In this episode, we explore how early escalation removes scaffolded learning, weakens autonomy, and quietly reshapes entire services.Because comfort is not competence—and complexity is the curriculum.”
Transcribe →How to manage complex cases
Apr 2100:11:06Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we explore the common belief:“If a patient is complex, it’s automatically too much for me.”We break down why this thought traps early-career clinicians, how it reinforces avoidance, and why complexity often feels like a personal threat rather than a shared responsibility.The episode introduces three key ideas:Reframe Complexity Complexity doesn’t mean you lack capability—it simply means the situation needs structure and a step-by-step approach.Use Curiosity, Not Fear Instead of “this is too much,” shift to “what makes this complex, and what part is mine to start with?”Shared Responsibility Complex patients are not meant to be managed alone; joint reviews, senior support, and MDT collaboration are built for this purpose.By changing how we think about complex cases, we transform them from overwhelming to manageable—and from sources of fear into opportunities for growth and stronger clinical reasoning.
Transcribe →Behavioral FOR
Apr 1400:26:59Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Hao breaks down one of the most practical and powerful tools in Occupational Therapy—the Behavioural Frame of Reference. If you’ve ever worked with patients who struggle to initiate, avoid activities, feel overwhelmed, or repeat unhelpful habits, this episode is for you.We explore how behaviour is learned, shaped, and strengthened through reinforcement, modelling, grading, and habit formation. You’ll learn how OTs use behavioural principles to support engagement, build routines, reduce fear, improve ADLs, and create meaningful change across respiratory medicine, neurorehabilitation, paediatrics, mental health, and acute inpatient care.Clear. Functional. Clinically grounded.This is behavioural science through an OT lens—simple, structured, and ready to use on the ward today.Press play, learn with me, and let’s elevate your practice one behaviour at a time.
Transcribe →Understand the Limbic System
Apr 700:34:40Tap to summarizeIn this episode, we explore the limbic system — the brain’s emotional and memory engine — and break down simple, practical ways to stimulate each part in isolation. From activating the amygdala through emotional cues, sharpening hippocampal function with memory and navigation tasks, regulating the hypothalamus through breathing and circadian routines, to boosting motivation via the nucleus accumbens, this session gives you clear, therapy-ready strategies. Perfect for clinicians, students, and anyone curious about how targeted sensory and cognitive experiences can wake up the emotional brain and support rehabilitation. Tune in, learn, and bring these tools straight into practice.
Transcribe →NDT frame frame of reference
Mar 3100:20:44Tap to summarizeIn this episode of OT Conversations, we dive into the Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT) Frame of Reference — one of the foundational approaches used in neurological rehabilitation. Join me as we explore how NDT helps occupational therapists understand movement, muscle tone, postural control, and the power of hands-on facilitation.We unpack the key principles behind NDT, why it’s so widely used in stroke, brain injury, and cerebral palsy, and how guided, purposeful handling can retrain the nervous system toward more normal, efficient movement. Using everyday functional tasks, we look at how OTs help patients relearn balance, coordination, and control in the occupations that matter most.Whether you’re a student, a clinician, or someone curious about neurorehab, this episode brings clarity to what the NDT Frame of Reference is — and why it continues to shape modern OT practice across the world.
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