Back to Work Handbook

Who are We?

Hi! we are Tahmida and Tahiyah, you may recognise our names from A Stroke of Luck’s Instagram page. We are third year Occupational Therapy (OT) students from the University of Bradford and are on our final role-emerging placement. Our role as OT’s is to help people who have difficulties carrying out day-to-day activities because of a disability, illness, trauma, ageing, and a range of long-term conditions including stroke. We enable individuals to restore their independence and empower them to live a fulfilled life.

Get to know us both:

Tahmida

The biggest questions… how did I get here and why? My OT journey started off in my college years when studying my A-Levels. I gained a particular liking to Psychology and was adamant that I wanted to work in healthcare. However, there are were many roles out there, I couldn’t possibly choose only one so quickly!

Coincidentally, my younger brother who was diagnosed with Autism (at the age of 3) had the input of many health professionals during this time. I took advantage of this and went to every meeting/assessment to see the role of each profession with my own eyes. One particular profession stood out, you guessed it, OT. This was because, although all professions showed the duty of care to my younger brother, OT allowed this care to be completely tailored to what was meaningful to him. Immediately after witnessing the unique role of an OT, I applied and began straight away and nearly 3 years later (filed with assessments, exams and sleepless nights), here I am near the finish line!
 

Tahiyah

My journey was a little different to Tahmida’s. I was quite quickly ensured that OT was the right fit for me. My uncle who worked within the NHS introduced OT to me and I just knew OT is where my heart lies! I too, applied as soon as I could but unfortunately did not get in the first-time round, but got into other careers. However, I stood my ground and my loyalties remained with OT. I decided to take a gap year and temporarily work in order to gain more experience of working alongside Occupational Therapists. This job caused my love for OT to grow, and I knew for sure that an Occupational Therapist is what I inspire to be. After gaining experience in the field, it was now time for me to apply for university again. Second time lucky, I got in and never looked back. I have loved my journey and am looking forward to the rest of my career. OT is a big part of who I am, and I am very proud of it!

Introduction to our project:

So now we both are in our final placement with this amazing organisation. Some of you have been interviewed and assessed for us to see what this organisation would most benefit from (thank you to all who responded to the questionnaire and interviews, we could not have done this without you!).

After gathering the data, we have created a project with aim to meet all your shared concerns and worries. This included managing your fatigue and anxiety when returning to work. From this, we have created a handbook that that will assist you in your journey when returning to work. Don’t worry, the book isn’t just a bunch of paragraphs of text like many others, we promise. Have a read of the book to see interactive strategies as well as resources for you to fill in as you go along. We hope you enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed creating it! Please click the link below to download.
 
Back To Work Handbook