Brunel University of London’s Dr Carolyn Dunford has today received the highest award her profession can bestow: a Fellowship of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists.
The RCOT’s Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships recognise and celebrate those who have made outstanding contribitions to the occupational therapy profession. These are for the very select few, with the UK-based professional body awarding fewer than 130 since first doing so in 1972.
Dr Dunford’s award is in recognition of her dedication to evidence-based and occupation-centred practice, particularly in children’s occupational therapy, which has made a significant difference to the occupational therapy profession, both nationally and internationally.
Her acceptance response has been published by the RCOT and is reproduced here in full.
I am proud to have been an occupational therapist since 1988 and feel humbled to have been nominated for this Fellowship award.
From the start of my career, I have been motivated to contribute to my profession, becoming involved in regional and national support and development groups for children’s occupational therapists.
Learning to ride
During my early career, I led the development of an effective intervention which enables children with disabilities to learn to ride a bike. This is an established intervention now in many services in the UK and I continue to be involved in the bike skills group at Brunel University of London.
I was one of the early members of the National Association of Paediatric Occupational Therapists, and was on the National Executive Committee (NEC) when this became the RCOT Children Young People and Families Specialist Section (CYPF-SS).
I have had various roles over the years on the CYPF-SS including Chair of the NEC from October 2019 to March 2021. Under my leadership, the NEC ran its first virtual conference and instigated monthly evening webinars, typically attended by 100–250 members.
RCOT Approved Learning Assessor, Research Champion and Mentor
I am an RCOT Approved Learning Assessor, Research Champion and Mentor. I was a member of the RCOT guideline development group, supporting the production of the Occupational Therapy and Play Practice Guideline.
I collected and collated data for ‘Doubly Disadvantaged’: a report of a survey on waiting lists and waiting times for occupational therapy services for children with developmental coordination disorder in 2003, and co-wrote the report with Sheelagh Richards, Chief Executive of RCOT at the time.
In 2005 I represented RCOT at the Welsh assembly. I reviewed children’s services in Guernsey for RCOT in 2005. I was a member of the editorial board for the British Journal of Occupational Therapy (BJOT) from March 2009 to Feb 2013 and continue to be a peer reviewer.
I was co-founder of the Royal College of Occupational Therapist’s course, Essential skills for contemporary occupational therapy practice, which started in 2016. Feedback from delegates was excellent with many stating that the course had significantly influenced their practice in becoming more evidence-based and occupation-centred.
I have a sustained record of publications in journals with interdisciplinary authorship, reflecting team working in clinical practice. I have supervised MSc and PhD students and provided formal and informal mentorship to many occupational therapists.
I received an Excellence Award in February 2020 for my effective leadership as Division Lead for Occupational Therapy at Brunel University of London during very challenging times including staff shortages.
We have actively recruited lecturers from racially and ethnically minoritised backgrounds through our links with BAME OT. I have championed explicitly embedding RCOT and HCPC professional standards into teaching and learning content.
I am an active researcher and evidence consumer disseminating evidence-based practice at workshops, study days and national and international conferences throughout my career.
I founded Mind the Gap, an international community of practice for delivering evidence-based practice in children’s occupational therapy. This has harnessed the power of opinion leaders to debate, explore and develop resources for knowledge transfer in collaboration with RCOT.
Find out more about our Occupational Therapy department
Reported by:
Joe Buchanunn,
Media Relations
+44 (0)1895 268821
joe.buchanunn@brunel.ac.uk