Greetings from an occupational therapy sustainability volunteer!

Hello everyone, I've just joined the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare as a volunteer and I want to take a few moments to introduce myself.

I am a postgraduate occupational therapy student in my final year of study. Previously, I studied sustainable building and renewable energy at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), and I have volunteered with self-build and gardening projects in the UK and around the world. Very shortly after beginning my journey to becoming an occupational therapist, I sought out opportunities to explore the role that sustainability plays in our profession. A Google search lead to me to CSH and after reading about the fantastic work they are doing, I jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

At the heart of the relationship between human beings and the environment, is occupation. Shifts in lifestyle, culture and behaviour are therefore key to tackling environmental issues and improving human health and wellbeing. Furthermore, with the dramatic cuts to services we are witnessing across the NHS, it is all the more important to ensure our health system is sustainable, resilient and future-proof.

I am very happy to be joining the team at CSH, and I am looking forward to promoting the inclusion of sustainability and wider environmental issues in occupational therapy education.

Any educators or students around the world who want to let us know about sustainability in their occupational therapy curriculum, or would like to discuss how it could be included, do please get in touch!