University of Northampton

A potentially ground breaking new partnership between The University of Northampton & The Reach for Health Centre.

Northampton has been home to the education and training of Occupational Therapists since 1941. We are proud to be the most recent chapter in the story of OT education at the University of Northampton. We prepare students for work in the NHS, Social Services, schools, prisons and military health care. In the last 15⁺ years we have worked hard to establish occupational therapy practice in charities and social enterprises. Our partnership with The Reach for Health Centre is the culmination of all that we have learned about the professional practice of OT in traditional and non-traditional settings.

We feel extremely privileged to have been welcomed into The Reach for Health Centre family and are very excited about the potential for the various ways we are working together to benefit members of The Reach for Health Centre as well as the education of occupational therapists and the future development of the occupational therapy profession. We put undergraduate students on practice placement at The Reach for Health Centre. Our postgraduate students, as qualified therapists, have the opportunity to consult and volunteer their services. We are working to develop postgraduate learning for healthcare professionals in rehabilitation practices that will disseminate the considerable expertise in the Reach for Health team.

Beginning in 2020 and continuing over the coming years, a joint research project will allow The Reach for Health Centre and the University of Northampton to investigate what impact on health and wellbeing results from engaging in the rehabilitation services provided at The Reach for Health Centre. This long-term research will provide opportunities to undergraduate and postgraduate students to contribute and gain valuable research experience. It is intended that the outcome of rehabilitation at The Reach for Health Centre is subjected to rigorous scientific investigation so that this can be shared at a national level and contribute to establishing standards of care in similar organisations.

Fiona Burbeary
Senior Lecturer of Occupational Therapy