WHAT'S IN YOUR TOOLBOX?

Being a Driver Assessor OT is a complex role, and something that you discover when you work in this area for any length of time is that you can't perform at your best in this role without a whole bucket load of resources, supports and tools; I like to refer to this as my toolkit. So what is in that toolkit? Let's break it down...

Assessment Tools - this goes without saying, you can't assess your clients without your assessment tools. Consent forms, recording forms, eye chart, sticky dots, intersection diagram tests, and cognitive assessment tools.

Driving Instructor - an integral component of the assessment and one of the most important factors to consider. My advice ... find a good one and hang onto them!I You will never regret fostering a great working relationship with your driving instructor, and you won't ever realise how much you appreciate them until you do an assessment with a different instructor. In fact, find two so you always have a backup! If you are working with clients with physical impairments then make sure your instructors have access to a range of modifications to give you the best options to trial with your clients. This is where having access to a couple of different instructors can really help.

Vehicle Modifier - remember the last blog?? Much of what I don't know relates to vehicle modifications, and every time I think I've gotten my head around it something changes and I realise how much I still don't know. If you've ever had to recommend hundreds of thousands of dollars of vehicle modifications based on a proof of concept, you will know just how important it is to have a great working relationship with a vehicle modifier or two. A vehicle modifier who is happy to answer your how and why questions and help you to understand what is and isn't possible when it comes to modifications for your clients is essential. As an OT it's not good enough to leave the vehicle modifications decisions up to the modifier. The more you know they better placed you are to make suitable recommendations.

Supervisor or Mentor - I feel like this should be at the top of the list. Most Driver Assessor OT's don't have the luxury of having daily access to a more senior Driver Assessor OT to answer questions, review your clinical skills, be a sounding board for your clinical reasoning or just someone to debrief after a particularly difficult assessment. I can't stress enough how important it is to have access to someone with more clinical experience than you in the area of driving assessments. It may not be face to face, but you can achieve a lot via phone calls, email or Skype. Supervision can take any form from regular structured sessions, to a quick 5 minute phone call when you are stuck on something specific, to review of reports and funding requests before you submit them.

When you are looking for a supervisor or mentor keep the following things in mind:

• make sure it's someone with the right clinical skills;

• make sure you are comfortable communicating with this person - supervision isn't always the most comfortable experience and you want someone who is happy to challenge you and communicate effectively.

• Be prepared to pay for it - good quality supervision will cost you but this is an essential business expense if you want to be providing the best service you can. When you are paying for supervision you don't need to feel guilty about taking up another therapists time, you are paying for that time and can concentrate on getting the most out of it. Paying for supervision also means you are more likely to value the process, be prepared and gain more from it.

The important thing is to acknowledge that we all need to keep developing our skills - even after 20 years I still have regular supervision and regularly have my written reports peer reviewed.

What is in your toolbox?