Notebooks on physiology and anatomy courses as part of occupational therapy training

Notes taken on physiology and anatomy by Valerie Davis during her training to become an occupational therapist as part of the Association of Occupational Therapists Diploma 1954-1957

Valerie Davis’ notes contain hand drawn diagrams and information of nerves, connective tissues, and cell structures. Anatomy, the structure of the body, and physiology, the function of the body, are a core part of training to be an occupational therapist. Occupational therapy works with people to give them confidence and independence and to overcome barriers in their every-day lives, after illness, injury or adapting to ageing. As occupational therapy looks at every aspect of person’s life, Valerie also studied psychology, and craft techniques such as embroidery and weaving to use with people needing her help.

Valerie Davis qualified as an occupational therapist, aged 25 in 1957. Like many women of her generation, she stopped working once she married but was also living far from her nearest hospital. Her son remembers that his mother’s occupational therapy knowledge influenced the way she interacted with the world how she cared for her family, both in health and illness. Valerie Davis did return to practice in the 1970s, working at the OT department at the Royal East Sussex Hospital. However, changes in the NHS impacted how occupational therapy was carried out. Focusing more on aids and adaptations rather than the craft practice Valerie had learnt, she felt that the overall well-being and development of competence with the people she helped was often overlooked.