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Introduction: This poster presents a study which explored the use of social media within the continuing professional development of occupational therapy students and practitioners. Perceived barriers and the influence of generation theory on the use of social media were also considered. Increasingly, social media platforms are being embraced by healthcare professionals within financially challenging climates and occupational therapists working within non-traditional settings as a cost effective mode of networking and supporting their CPD (Lawson and Cowling, 2014). Previous literature is limited and focuses on small-scale qualitative data (Bodell and Hook, 2014) and personal experience of using specific social media platforms (Bodell et al., 2009; Ezzamel, 2013; BJOT and #OTalk, 2016). More research with a larger sample group was therefore considered appropriate.\ud \ud Method: A mixed method survey design gathered qualitative and quantitative data through an online questionnaire. Content analysis was used to code and identify themes. Descriptive statistics were used to quantify the findings and consider variations across generations.\ud \ud Findings: Results highlighted a predominantly positive attitude to social media use within CPD. Accessibility, networking, learning and development were highlighted as advantages to its use. Time and individuals’ skills and knowledge were highlighted as barriers to utilising the platforms. The results suggest that age does not impact on willingness to use social media within CPD but does impact on perceived knowledge and skills to utilise the platforms confidently.\ud \ud Conclusion: The study highlighted a need for more structured training on professional social media use at both pre and post registration levels.

This seminar will outline the development of a proposed research model, which has emerged from an evaluation of collaborative partnerships between a university occupational therapy programme and local practice partners. The practice-research divide within occupational therapy is well documented (Crist 2010). Students are often deterred from conducting research in practice due to difficulties such as gaining organisational approval and gaining access to sites. The consequent lack of research and skills upon qualification combined with limited resources and demanding workloads results in practitioners feeling ill equipped to conduct research to support their practice, thus perpetuating the divide (Kennel et al 2009). An educational approach aiming to address the practice research divide was planned and implemented. This comprised the development of research partnerships involving students, practitioners and university supervisors. Research projects were collaboratively designed and executed. Following this the partnerships were evaluated from the perspectives of all three parties. The evaluation used an action research methodology. Ethical approval was granted from the university and research governance approval was granted from the NHS Trusts employing the practitioners. Findings identified many benefits as well as a number of challenges and suggestions for future collaborations. The seminar will begin with a brief overview of the findings of the evaluation followed by a discussion of lessons learnt. It is intended that this will initiate some discussion around the practice-research divide and the potential for the proposed model in addressing this within a wider professional context. Ultimately it is envisaged that dissemination of and discussion around the model will promote the development of practice based research, which will enable occupational therapists to build their evidence base and provide effective interventions for their service users.\ud \ud Crist PA (2010) Adapting research instruction to support the scholarship of practice: practice-scholar partnerships. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 24(1), 39–55.\ud Kennel S, Burns S, Horn H (2009) Stimulating student interest in nursing research: a program pairing students with practicing clinician researchers. Educational Innovations, 48(4), 209–12.

A lack of skills and confidence in carrying out research has been identified amongst occupational therapists (Pighills et al, 2013). The consequent predominance of university-led research threatens to exacerbate the practice-research gap (Kielhofner, 2005). This poster describes the benefits and challenges of collaborative research partnerships (Crist, 2010) for occupational therapy students, practice partners and academic supervisors. The aim of the project was to explore the benefits and challenges of the research partnerships from the perspectives of key stakeholders. Action research methodology was used. Five BSc, two MSc (pre-registration) students, six practice partners and four academic supervisors were recruited. Data was collected using questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. All data were analysed thematically. Ethical and research governance approvals were gained from University of Cumbria and relevant NHS trusts respectively. The study was funded by the Higher Education Academy and the University of Cumbria. Findings identified benefits for each stakeholder group. Students emphasised increased confidence and a sense of value and purpose in contributing to future service improvements. Practice partners valued the research findings to aid reflection on working practices and potential service development. Academic supervisors described satisfaction in building enhanced research capacity through practice-based projects. Communication challenges and increased stress and workload were reported; however, these did not outweigh the benefits. Importantly, the research collaborations were perceived to contribute to service enhancements and therefore yield benefits for service-users. These findings illustrate the potential of collaborative research partnerships to build confidence and research capacity in future occupational therapists and thereby assist in reduction of the practice-research divide and support service development.\ud \ud Crist, P.A. (2010) Adapting Research Instruction to Support the Scholarship of Practice: Practice-Scholar Partnerships. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 24(1), 39–55.\ud Kielhofner, G. (2005) A scholarship of practice: Creating discourse between theory, research and practice. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 19(1/2), 7–16.\ud Pighills, A. C., Plummer, D., Harvey, D., Pain, T. (2013) Positioning occupational therapy as a discipline on the research continuum: Results of a cross-sectional survey of research experience. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 60(4), 241–251.

Stimulating interest in research for pre-registration healthcare students is challenging. Ambitions of students to conduct research in practice settings can be deterred by complexities such as acquiring ethical permission, gaining institutional approval or negotiating access to appropriate sites. As a result many students resort to peer-based projects (Kennel et al., 2009). Practice research comes to be viewed as overwhelming and intimidating whilst the contrived and clinically removed nature of peer-based projects reduces interest in research (Crist, 2010). Students come to view research as something that is for ‘others’, those with more experience or with higher academic qualifications (Kennel et al., 2009). Consequently many students qualify without any experience of conducting practice related research and the ensuing lack of skills results in a limited amount of research being conducted by practitioners. Indeed, a lack of skills and confidence in carrying out research has been identified amongst qualified practitioners within the occupational therapy profession (Pighills et al., 2013). This has served to perpetuate a practice-research gap in which scientific research carried out by academics bears little relevance to the realities of practice (Kielhofner, 2005). There continues to be a significant need for the generation of pragmatic knowledge to support clinical interventions and contribute towards the evidence-base (Crist, 2010).\ud \ud An educational approach aiming to address the practice-research divide was planned and implemented for pre-registration occupational therapy students. This comprised the development of research partnerships involving students, practitioners and university supervisors. It was considered that such partnerships could have mutual benefits. Practitioners working in local NHS Trusts were invited to be involved in collaborative partnerships. They were asked to put forward practice-related topic areas that they would be interested in researching. Once these were identified, students were invited to take part in the projects. Seven research projects were collaboratively designed and executed. Following completion of these, the partnerships were evaluated from the perspectives of all three parties. The evaluation used an action research methodology. Ethical approval was granted from the university and research governance approval was granted from the NHS Trusts employing the practitioners. The findings highlighted a number of benefits for all three parties, as well as some challenges and recommendations for future. The following themes were identified: research with value; developing relationships; professional development; sources of tension.\ud \ud The partnerships increased students’ confidence and understanding of the research process which may help to overcome some of the issues reported by Crist (2010), Kennel et al. (2009) and Pighills et al. (2013). Experience of conducting practice related research has led to increased motivation and a positive attitude towards future research engagement. Further research involvement from participants in their transition from students to practitioners will be influential in helping to address the practice-research gap described by Kielhofner (2005). This will lead to the generation of pragmatic knowledge to support clinical interventions and contribute towards the professional evidence-base. The partnerships are considered to be a valuable educational approach to build research capacity and therefore worthy of further application on a broader scale. However, since commitment from students is a significant factor in determining success, participation should be optional. The research partnerships therefore need to be promoted in order to achieve greater uptake by students. The challenges that were highlighted can be addressed through the development of guidance around the definition of collaborative partnerships, documentation of roles and responsibilities, communication procedures and formal written agreements/contracts. Furthermore, the establishment of guidelines around the responsibility to disseminate the research findings and subsequent recommendations arising from the partnership projects would be valuable. Future evaluation will investigate the impact of collaborative research projects on practice development.\ud \ud Crist, P.A. (2010) Adapting research instruction to support the scholarship of practice: practice-scholar partnerships. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 24: 1, 39-55.\ud Kennel, S., Burns, S., Horn, H. (2009) Stimulating student interest in nursing research: a program pairing students with practising clinician researchers. Educational Innovations, 48: 4, 209-212. \ud Kielhofner, G. (2005) A scholarship of practice: creating discourse between theory, research and practice. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 19: 1-2, 7-16.\ud Pighills, A.C., Plummer, D., Harvey, D., Pain, T. (2013) Positioning occupational therapy as a discipline on the research continuum: Results of a cross-sectional survey of research experience. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 60: 4, 241-251.