Occupational therapy week: Front door occupational therapist
November 5, 2021
As this week is occupational therapy week, we will be shining a light on the service and the fantastic work they do at SWB.
We recently caught up with Beth Bate, Advanced Occupational Therapist to find more about her role as a ‘front door occupational therapist’.
“For a start I wear red instead of green (almost unheard of in the profession), and my natural habitat is A&E or AMU. The front door occupational therapist has one thing on their mind and that is “how do I help my patient get home?”
“I have been part of the rapid response therapy service (an integrated service of occupational therapists, physios and assistant practitioners) for over 85 per cent of my time at SWB and most of our customers are desperate to get home. They want to be back with their families, creature comforts, routines, and away from the noisy hustle and bustle of a busy emergency department. It is our job to support them to get there. We look at everyone as individuals, no two cases are alike just as no two people are alike. We are all motivated by different things, we all have different priorities and different parts of our day that hold meaning and are essential to maintaining who we are.”
Now the term “occupation” has proven over time to be problematic. A high percentage of people who haven’t had the pleasure of an up close and personal experience of OT would be forgiven for confusing “occupation” with “job” or “what you do for a living”. However, in the world of OT occupation is so much more than that, occupation is anything and everything that fills your time with something meaningful. This can range from the satisfaction you get from completing a marathon, to how meaningful it is for you to be able to go to the bathroom by yourself, and everything in between.
Now if you are sat in A&E with a broken ankle after falling over at home, you might not be thinking about your next marathon, but you probably are thinking about how you are going to get to the toilet, or cook a meal, or get washed and dressed. *Enter the Front Door OT* we are skilled in forming relationships with patients in a matter of minutes and figuring out what is important to them. We talk through your home set up, the rooms you use, how you do day to day activities, we build a picture of what your day looks like and how your new injury might change that. We assess your physical ability as well as your cognition and then help you make a plan to overcome the barriers. This might look like equipment, or support at home, telecare, advice and education or community referrals. We are skilled problem solvers who never shy away from a challenge!
The Royal College of Occupational Therapy published some research into the value of OT that found that “occupational therapists on acute medical wards can reduce the length of stay from 9.5 days to 1”. This is what we bring to the table. Front Door OTs are just one of many green trousered teams who have a huge set of skills that can be adapted to all kinds of settings.
- We can assess physical function; getting in and out of bed, on and off chairs, up and down stairs, on and off the sofa, how you walk, how you stand, how you pick things up, how you get out of the car.
- We can look at how you get dressed, how you make your food, how you get a drink, how you take your meds.
- We can review your attention, your memory, your problem solving, your safety awareness.
- We can assess your deficits, look at what is reversible and what needs to be compensated for and then make a plan with you to get around these obstacles.
- We can order you equipment from low level handles in your bathroom to super fancy hoists and specialist bathing systems and seating.
- We can support your mental health, and your treatment in inpatient facilities, forensic settings and even prison.
- We can work in schools, and SEN environments, and support those with sensory impairments and learning disabilities.
- We can assess for wheelchairs, stair lifts, level access showers and ground floor extensions
- We can rehab you after your knee op, your hip op, your broken ankle, your dislocated shoulder, your heart attack, your stroke, your head injury or your fall.
- We risk assess on your behalf so you don’t have to and we do it with a pair of green trousers (well sometimes anyway!)