Occupational therapy is a relatively young profession in Iceland but has been growing rapidly. Among seven occupational therapists who work at HSN is Deborah Júlía Robinson, or Debbie as she is usually called. Debbie, who is from the English-speaking part of South Africa, namely the city of George on the beautiful Garden Route”), came to Iceland at the age of 25 on her adventure trip around the world, then just graduated from university where she studied public relations and marketing. Her life has changed a lot since then.

“I had only been travelling around the world, but I ended up in Flateyri in the west of Iceland. It was a great experience and taught me a lot, and I am forever grateful that I learned to know good ingredients after that time.” Debbie meets her husband in the west and they start a family, with three children and five grandchildren. From Flateyri, the family moved to Sauðárkrókur, where Debbie became an English teacher. At Sauðárkrókur, she took advantage of her studies and started the PR agency, which was responsible for making English-language texts for companies in the fishing industry and tourism, which had extensive contacts abroad. Then the family decided to move to Akureyri. “At that time I was looking around to change my career and learn something new. I found a occupational therapy program at the University of Akureyri, which was relatively new, and I found it was really right for me. It’s an incredibly practical study, but also so solution-oriented and creative.”

What does an occupational therapist do?

The goal of occupational therapists is “to promote occupational therapy, participation, health and well-being of individuals, groups and communities”, as stated on the website of the Icelandic Association of occupational therapists. They work with people of all ages who, for whatever reason, have occupational problems that restrict or impede their participation in daily life. They work in a wide range of fields, such as health and social services, schools, NGOs, non-profit organizations, administration and companies in the general labour market. “I say that this is a creative job, because I need to be very solution oriented to see how I can best help, but it’s also a very practical job, you can see immediately that you can change people’s situation for the better, which is very rewarding.”

Occupational therapy has been taught since just before the turn of the century at the University of Akureyri, so the profession is quite young in Iceland. Debbie started as an occupational therapist at HSN in so-called health promotion visits, where organized visits to people over the age of eighteen were established to support people who wanted to live in their homes for as long as possible and be independent in their daily activities. Now she works within HSN’s home nursing center, which treats both elderly people and those who are struggling with chronic diseases or dealing with the aftermath of accidents or major operations. “Those of us who have been in this profession for a long time have actually been creating the tradition that occupational therapy is an important part of prevention, rehabilitation and for health promotion with the goal of enabling people to be independent in their daily activities. Knowledge of the profession has therefore increased greatly among the general public, which is a good thing.”

Interdisciplinary work and increasing interest in the profession

Occupational therapy is a lot about bringing the right tools and equipment into people’s homes to adjust and improve the environment for the individual, but especially for healthcare professionals who come in to help. “I usually come with a first-aid nurse to review the premises and can then make suggestions to make both the access for clients easier and safer, which also helps healthcare professionals to do their job with more safety and reduce the risk of accidents. We are looking after people’s safety, trying to reduce the risk of falls with the right assistive devices. In home nursing, the main spaces are the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom. In the bathroom, solutions can include something simple but very practical, like a chair in a shower and an arm on a wall to grab onto, and in the bedroom to form a rack at a bed, and then a walking frame to get around with more safety. Sometimes you need little, just an arm here and there, but then you may need bigger tools, like wheelchairs or a lift guide that help to move the occupants between areas. Then you have a re-evaluation as you go forward. My goal is still to be unnecessary for my clients after I have visited them, teach them new skills and install the necessary tools and equipment.”

HSN has accepted students in occupational therapy in collaboration with the University of Akureyri, but Debbie has also taught courses in the field there. “It is very important to have good collaboration with the university and we have regularly accepted students in occupational therapy training. I believe that this profession is becoming increasingly important because people want to be able to stay at home for as long as possible despite different circumstances and occupational therapy is an important link to support those goals.”