Recording your OT CPD activity
Getting started on recording your CPD activity
A previous article from Harrison Training considered; ‘Could using an online portfolio help you to organise your CPD evidence?’. One of the benefits of using an online portfolio is access to ready-made templates for recording CPD activities. With this in mind, this article offers the opportunity to use an ‘Activities and Evidence Summary’ template to make a start at recording your CPD activities and evidence.
Recognising that therapists practice in wide-ranging roles and settings; ‘...the evidence you gather for registration purposes could also enable you to meet other needs such as, demonstrating that you are meeting industry standards, have achieved a certain level of competence or achieved an accredited qualification. You may also have chosen activities that specifically showcase your learning, development and quality of service to clients or demonstrate personal development.’ (Harrison Training 2015)
For any of these reasons, providing an up to date overview of CPD activities achieved over a set period of time, is one place to start. In support of this the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) require that ‘...the first piece of evidence should be a list of all the CPD activities carried out over the previous two years’ (HCPC 2012)
What is CPD Activity?
The Health and Care Professions Council suggests five categories of CPD activity that may be used to enable you to achieve their standards:
Work-based learning
Professional activity
Formal/educational
Self-directed learning
Other (HCPC 2006).
CPD should also be ‘...driven by the quality of your work and the benefits to service users’ (HCPC 2012).
What is CPD Evidence?
In her presentation at the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section – Independent Practice conference (COTSS-IP), Ayres (2010) stated,
“Any materials that you have created or collected in connection with your work can be cited as evidence, BUT it only constitutes evidence if it has been applied to your practice” (Ayres 2010)
The HCPC (2010) defines three types of evidence:
Produced by you
Reflection and evaluation of your work
Received from others
They advise finding a mix of these different types of evidence to support each CPD activity. The template below is just one way of making a start on keeping a chronological record of these activities and a range of supporting evidence. It enables you to meet the HCPC audit standards by providing a list of all CPD activities carried out over the previous two-year period. In addition, by making brief reflections on each activity you can begin to show their overall impact on your practice and identify any further actions.
By keeping an on-going record you can see at a glance what you have achieved, can easily identify any gaps in your expertise or supporting evidence and can update as necessary. You can also ensure that there is an overall balance of different type of activity and supporting evidence.
Using a CPD Activity and Evidence Summary
The following partially completed template offers examples of evidence from each of the HCPC categories and a range of supporting evidence for each.
This template is just one to be found in CPD Online, an online portfolio created by occupational therapists for occupational therapists by Harrison Training in partnership with Moonshine Internet. The portfolio provides users with industry specific information together with tailored templates that capture CPD evidence within the OT sector. It was designed to provide therapists with a cost-effective tool to personalise and use throughout their career to record both professional and personal development; untied to specific organisations but facilitating compliance with audits, appraisals, and other professional requirements.
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