RCOMH Steering Group Member - Dr Wendy Bryant
I began my transition into academic life in 2000
with a Master’s degree in occupational therapy. I had worked for
many years as an occupational therapist in hospitals and the
community, which has enabled me to bring my experiences into my
teaching with undergraduate and postgraduate students – hearing
about real people always helps to bring the theory to life.
Initially I combined funded research with part-time work as an
occupational therapist and sessional lecturing at Brunel, balancing
my domestic responsibilities with my new career. My research
involved people with severe mental health problems, gaining their
perspectives on the day services they received. Much to my delight,
I was able to continue the research and received my PhD in October
2008. With local day service users and staff, I conducted a
participatory action research project from 2003-7 which informed
the development of local mental health day services. We used a
variety of approaches including photography.
This research has led to a number of other
projects involving mental health service users and occupational
therapy staff, all at different stages of progress. I have also
sustained my interest in social care, especially in relation to
occupational science and clinical reasoning. It is a great
privilege to be creating and sharing knowledge in health and social
care, especially as my particular role brings me into contact with
so many different people in different settings.