Occupational Therapy Supervision Special Interest Group

“NZAOT considers that supervision enhances professional development, clinical competence and safe practice. It reduces risk to the client and clinician. NZAOT considers that supervision should be a mandatory requirement of ongoing competency. This is endorsed by the Occupational Therapy Board of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Code of Ethics for Occupational Therapists (2004), which defines professional supervision as:”

“A structured intentional relationship within which a practitioner reflects critically on his/her work, and receives feedback and guidance from a supervisor, in order to deliver the best possible service to consumers. Professional supervision may incorporate any aspect of professional role eg. Clinical, managerial, or cultural, and be one to one, one to group, or peer review”.

Supervision is informed by relevant legal, ethical, professional standards and current practice considerations including the Treaty of Waitangi.

Requirements of the Supervisor

All supervisors, including those facilitating a model of peer/group supervision, require specific training in conducting supervision. They must have an understanding of the different forms of supervision, and be clear in the boundaries regarding the form of supervision they are providing. Supervisors should have a relevant professional qualification, hold a current Annual Practising Certificate (where applicable) and themselves be receiving appropriate supervision.

References

1. Occupational Therapy Board of Aotearoa / New Zealand (2004). Code of Ethics for Occupational Therapists. Wellington: OTBNZ
2. New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists (Inc). Supervision Position statement. Wellington: NZAOT. www.nzaot.co.nz

OTSSIG Mission Statement

The NZAOT Occupational Therapy Supervision Special Interest Group (OTSSIG) exists for the benefit of NZAOT members, both supervisor and supervisee and other health professionals on the NZAOT Supervision Register, who wish to obtain support and education; be involved in development of policies, procedures and processes; discuss debate and advocate for this essential area that strengthens occupational therapy practice.

The Role of the Occupational Therapy Supervision Special Interest Group (OTSSIG) is to:

1. Provide a forum for informed discussion and debate on supervision. (Primarily as online LISTserv.)
2. Provide a supportive and educational forum for both supervisors and supervisees on relevant prior and current information.
3. Provide and ensure accountability to NZAOT on needs, concerns and developments within this area of interest.
4. To encourage development and understanding through membership of this essential area that supports occupational therapy practice.

Guidelines (expectations) for participation in OTSISG

1. To adhere to the principles and focus of the group (see role definition)
2. At the first posting, it would useful to offer a brief profile of yourself and perhaps what you hope to gain from this group. These will be collated and made available for those people who join the LISTserv after you.
3. To discuss online, topics and issues respectfully, and with regard to confidentiality (i.e., no question is regarded as a ‘silly’ question and is responded to in a professional manner).
4. Postings, both questions and responses, need to have clearly named headings/titles for the purpose of tracking discussions and archiving the information. Members are expected to start a new thread if the conversation topic changes.
   
   Examples
   Headings to relate to the subject matter on Supervision (no abbreviation) using a keyword/s as first indicator of topic/issue, i.e. ‘Definition Supervision’, ‘Policy supervision’, ‘Tools Supervision’ etc.
   
   When information is related to a Supervisor or Supervisee this may be defined in an abbreviation (SUP or SEE) next to the topic heading if and where applicable. i.e. ‘Definition role/SUP’ or ‘Definition role/SEE’. Abbreviation may also be used within text to indicate reference to roles. (Otherwise it will need to be spelt out in full for archiving purposes.)
5. If submitting written information to share that is longer than one page, please give a contact email address for those interested to obtain a copy, either by email or postal mail. (This prevents ‘clogging’ of postings such as “yes please” and “me too”) In addition, the attachment parameter of the LISTserv, has limited megabytes).
   • Alternatively one could ask NZAOT Executive Director to email information to SSIG membership if it is documentation of importance to all.
   • Remember information may also be disseminated via NZAOT Insight Newsletter to reach a wider audience.
6. Where necessary convenors may impose a limited timeframe on discussions either at the commencement of a topic or after a period of time. This does not exclude the topic being re-opened by a member at a later date.

Background

The idea for this new OTSSIG arose from the NZAOT membership review of the supervision policy with an invitation to individuals on the NZAOT Supervision Register to form a SIG on Supervision. Concurrently, at the time, an online discussion/debate about the Supervision topic and issues was taking place on the Children & Young Person Occupational Therapy (CHYPOT) LISTserv. These discussions have highlighted further the need for support, education and development of polices and professional requirements related to supervision. Feedback from CHYPOT members indicated that therapists are at different levels of understanding and experience of supervision. The need to store these responses in an accessible, readable format for future reference by therapists and/or NZAOT council was identified. This could be by way of an online archive, NZAOT website or Insight newsletter.

In keeping with LISTserv protocol and supervisory practice, the idea of guidelines for the discussion group became necessary in order to:

• ensure confidentiality and respect
• manage interesting/useful conversations/debates
• promote and encourage questions and responses on supervision
• assist in the archiving of this information.

At least three volunteers were required to effectively facilitate/convene this group. After careful thought the three convenors (listed below) in conjunction with the NZAOT Executive Director have worked towards:

• promoting this group
• drafting a proposal for the ratified process - NZAOT council
• developing guidelines for online participation and organisation of archives.

This does not exclude members from being involved, volunteering and assisting in areas of development where they have skills to offer that support the promotion of supervision for NZAOT membership.

For those therapists who have expressed concerns about the discussion content here is a sampling of supervision topics/issues discussed on the CHYPOT LISTserv for your information:

• Delineation of supervision - What is it?
• What makes a ‘good’ supervisor?
• Models of supervision practice – pros and cons of models – what happens in practice – mandatory requirements
• Types of supervision the pros and cons?
• What is the role of a competency supervisor is it different to that of a ‘supervisor’?
• Who takes responsibility for competency? Where does the buck stop?
• Do we have national guidelines for supervision such as the psychologists?
• Service attitudes towards supervision of their OT’s – Who pays?
• Sharing positive and negative experiences
• Training in supervision – courses and certificates?
• Is a national supervision register important?

Expectations from participation in a OTSISG:

• A safe forum to discuss/debate supervision issues
• To come to mutually shared resolutions about supervision issues
• To provide an experiential learning arena
• To develop or critique position statements, role descriptions etc.
• A conduit for the NZAOT & Board on these issues
• Giving and receiving assistance over supervision issues irrespective of the level of development of the person concerned
• A place for reflective and critical thinking issues in supervision
• Attention to care of the supervisor (SUP) and supervisee (SEE)
• Fostering supervision responsibilities and accountability

References

1. McMahan, M., & Patton, W. (2002). Supervision in the helping professions: A practical approach. Australia: Prentice Hall.
2. Carroll, M., & Gilbert, M. C. (2005). On being a supervisee: Creating learning partnerships. Authors: UK.
3. Hawkins P., & Shohet, R. (2000). Supervision in the helping professions. An individual, group and organizational approach. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
4. Scaife, J. (2001). Supervision in the mental health professions: A practitioner’s guide. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
   

What the OTSSIG does not provide

Disclaimer

It is not the intention of SSIG to provide ‘supervision’ to any member. This means that the group is not a replacement for supervision as determined by OTBNZ Code of Ethics, local service requirements and policies. Supervision must be undertaken outside this SIG group forum. However this does not exclude participants from presenting questions about any aspects of supervision that they may have experienced or require clarification, i.e., process, supervision models of practice, supervision tools, etc.

Signed Joint Convenors

Ann Christie, NZROT FRLA 1998, email: tanekaha24@xtra.co.nz
Merrolee Penman, NZROT FRLA 2006, email: merrolee@tekotago.ac.nz
Carolyn Simmons Carlsson, NZROT, email: kero.oskar@xtra.co.nz

Date 27/9/05