Last autumn, RCOT commissioned ComRes to once again investigate the attitudes of members, lapsed members and non-members towards RCOT membership and their perceptions of the professional body, as a follow-up to membership research undertaken by the same company in late 2015.
The research took the format of a 15-minute online survey and 30-minute telephone interviews, with more current members taking part in the 2018 online survey (4,884) than in 2015 (4,110), representing 16 per cent of the total membership.
As previously, the key objectives of the research were to:
- explore the current drivers and barriers to being a member of RCOT;
- investigate individual member satisfaction and how people believe RCOT could improve its overall membership offering; and
- identify any changes or approaches that could encourage former and non-members to return or take up membership of RCOT.
In addition, this time around the research also aimed to:
- identify any changes in people’s perceptions of RCOT, its membership offering and its communications;
- explore members’ and non-members’ awareness of, and support for, the new Strategic Intentions;
- assess members’ and non-members’ reactions to the change in status to Royal College;
- gather preferences around digital communications, and the format in which OTnews is delivered; and
- measure confidence levels among occupational therapists in talking about their job with the public.
Overall perceptions of RCOT
While the professional body’s role is primarily seen to oversee professional standards for occupational therapy, respondents told us that of equal importance is RCOT’s role on the political stage, representing and speaking out on behalf of its members and the profession as a whole.
Indeed, three quarters of all respondents perceived that the organisation’s visibility has increased or stayed the same since 2015, there is a strong feeling that RCOT is ‘more influential and proactive’ than ever before, and there is a greater propensity among both current and former members to promote membership to others now than there was three years ago.
Another crucial role for RCOT is to act as a conduit to direct occupational therapists to the resources, guidance and information that they need to fulfil their roles, which might be through social media signposting, website resources and publications, and more people associated RCOT with ‘being supportive’ this time around (current members 43 per cent in 2018 versus 39 per cent in 2015; former members 37 per cent in 2018 versus 29 per cent in 2015).
Hearteningly, members who responded to the survey told us that the recent change to Royal College status was an extremely positive move for the membership body, and the expectation is for us to capitalise on this accreditation to be a more influential voice in the wider heath sector.
Views on membership
Satisfaction rates for both current and former members remain high, with more than four in five respondents stating that they are satisfied with their membership, and the majority recognising RCOT as an effective organisation, with more than nine in 10 (93 per cent) rating performance in terms of producing professional standards, practice guidelines, a code of ethics and professional conduct as ‘good’.
The telephone interviews tended to support the broad level of satisfaction found in the survey; respondents praised RCOT as a useful source of information, guidance, and a representative voice for the profession, while terms such as ‘representative’ (46 per cent) and ‘supportive’ (43 per cent) were commonly associated with the organisation in the online survey.
The membership offerings with the highest levels of awareness include the code of ethics and professional conduct (99 per cent), OTnews (99 per cent), continuing professional development, education and training events (95 per cent) and Unison membership (94 per cent).
While membership satisfaction remains high, we believe we can build on this by effectively promoting the full spectrum of resources and benefits on offer, and we are constantly striving to increase membership numbers and ensure members are satisfied with the service they receive.
The biggest challenge to satisfaction with membership continues to be cost; we understand the challenges this can bring to our members, and we are constantly looking at ways to improve our offer in the future, taking on board members’ feedback.
There are still many positive drivers to becoming a member, which respondents are very aware of, such as insurance cover, Unison membership and the wealth of educational and professional resources available.
Raising the profile of the profession
More than four in five respondents (84 per cent) said that it is important that RCOT acts as a spokesperson for the needs of the profession, on par with 84 per cent saying the same for producing professional standards, practice guidelines and a code of ethics and professional conduct. These are given equally high importance.
While, 76 per cent of respondents say it is ‘very important’ that RCOT raise awareness of occupational therapy among the general public, just 64 per cent of respondents say RCOT’s work of acting as a spokesperson for the profession is ‘good’. We are committed to continuously improving our performance in this area, to ensure we meet the expectations of members.
On the role of RCOT, one member stated: ‘[RCOT] represents the interests of occupational therapists nationally, particularly in the more recent years; just trying to make sure that politicians are aware of occupational therapists and what we do.’
Awareness of the Improving Lives, Saving Money campaign is high, with 86 per cent of respondents finding it useful. Members are getting actively involved in the campaign by reading reports (51 per cent), sharing the campaign with colleagues (24 per cent), and using the resources to promote the value of their services (39 per cent).
There is also an expectation from members that RCOT should be reporting back wider health sector developments and policy changes affecting them. As our profile has grown over the last few years and continues to grow, we are also becoming increasingly collaborative with other professional bodies and are being looked to for expert advice and input within the broader health and social care sector. We expect this growth to continue over coming years.
Communications
Members generally find communications from RCOT to be good and effective; 99 per cent of respondents are aware of OTnews, while 69 per cent are also aware of our social media presence.
Although the social media channels are widely known of and valued, many respondents are not active on these platforms. In response to this, since completion of the survey, we have redeveloped the monthly e-newsletter Highlight, relaunching in March. The newsletter ensures that we have a more consistent coverage of RCOT projects reaching more members.
When it comes to OTnews, while the majority of respondents tend to prefer the print format, a significant number of respondents said that they would also value a digital version.
We are currently undertaking a project to look at how we can better represent OTnews online, as we are aware that there is a growing demand from members to provide our magazine digitally. We are also continually evolving the new website, responding further to member needs.
Reaction to Royal status
Members are overwhelmingly positive about RCOT’s change to Royal College status, with words such as ‘recognition’ and ‘pride’ repeatedly used to describe the change, while unifying perception is that this is a positive move for the profession as a whole, as it reaffirms its importance, alongside doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals.
Some members also commented that the change is an acknowledgement of RCOT’s huge efforts to better represent the profession in the last few years.
Value of our branches
There is a strong appetite for access to specialist sections, with almost all current members (94 per cent) saying that they would value access to one of their choice as part of their membership package, and we are exploring ways in which to expand the accessibility of this key membership benefit.
Education and research
Again, almost all respondents (92 per cent) said that it is important that RCOT accredits pre-registration occupational therapy programmes and provides funding for research into occupational therapy.
Although the majority of respondents believe RCOT is performing well in these areas, some people did feel that this could be improved. Since completion of the survey, and in response to feedback received as part of the Research and Development Review, RCOT has commenced an occupational therapy priority setting partnership with the James Lind Alliance.
Among a number of other projects, we are also progressing a review of the Learning and Development Standards for Pre-Registration Education and working with a team of researchers to identify how we can best support the delivery of high quality practice based learning and expansion of placement capacity.
These initiatives are driving significant change and improvements, responding to members’ expectations.
Julia Scott, RCOT chief executive, gave a personal thank you to everyone who took part in the 2018 membership survey. ‘It is extremely gratifying for the organisation to see how membership benefits are valued,’ she said.
‘RCOT once again appreciates the thoughtful and considered feedback, which has presented us with some concrete ideas on how we can continue to evolve as a professional body to meet the needs of our members now and in the future.’
- This article was first published in OTnews.