{"id":3446,"date":"2013-10-24T06:01:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T19:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=3446"},"modified":"2015-04-29T12:07:54","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T02:07:54","slug":"ot-week-celebrating-occupational-therapists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/ot-week-celebrating-occupational-therapists\/","title":{"rendered":"OT Week – Celebrating Occupational Therapists"},"content":{"rendered":"

In celebration of ‘OT Week’ we caught up with two of our occupational therapists (OTs)\u00a0to talk about the work that they do and how it impacts the lives of patients and families.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Allegra<\/a>
Allegra with Occupational Therapist, Chanel Abriani.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asking an OT to define their profession can be a difficult question to answer. It\u2019s an extremely diverse job and can relate to a number of specialty areas. For Erin Lowrie and Chanel Abriani, Occupational Therapists at the RCH<\/a>, their jobs vary greatly, but the common ground is assisting patients to reach their goals in everyday function. This could mean a range of things, from learning to walk with crutches in the home environment, practicing handwriting, or self-care activities such as showering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018occupation\u2019, in this case, refers to activities of daily living,\u201d Chanel said. \u201cThese activities are centred around three main areas: self care, productivity and leisure. We work with patients to achieve their individual goals for everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erin said another key part of an OT\u2019s role is to support patients through to discharge home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also focus on the transition of going home and how that looks for the patient and their family. We might need to arrange equipment to maximise their safety and independence, or show parents how to provide elements of everyday care,\u201d Erin said.<\/p>\n

So, what does a typical day look like for these OTs?<\/p>\n

Erin Lowrie \u2013 Occupational Therapist, Orthopaedics and Limb Deficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n

Erin\u2019s role focuses on patients who have undergone orthopaedic surgery, for traumatic or elective procedure, and patients that have\u00a0limb deficiency<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0require the use of a\u00a0prosthesis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day I have an early morning meeting with doctors, nurses and physiotherapists. I\u2019m given a list of patients to visit. Some patients will be awaiting surgery and some may be going home that day \u2013 I arrange to visit them to make sure they\u2019re all set to be discharged.<\/p>\n

I then head out on to the ward and assess the patient’s and family’s needs. Some of these visits are initial assessments where we talk about what their daily routine was like prior to being in hospital, and discuss any concerns about returning to the home and school environments. I also carry out functional assessments where we work out what the patient needs; do they have a plaster cast on one of their limbs? What do they need to improve function? If they require crutches, will this be safe for their home and school environment? We work out safe ways to address their needs and challenges at home.<\/p>\n

They may also require me to prescribe equipment or liaise with the school about their needs. There are also one-off sessions, or \u2018screens\u2019, to check that the patient is comfortable to leave hospital and the family is confident with life at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chanel Abriani \u2013 Occupational Therapist, Rehabilitation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chanel works within the Victorian Paediatric Rehabilitation Service<\/a>, predominantly with patients who have an acquired brain injury<\/a>. Chanel works with patients on a longer-term basis, assisting them with physical and cognitive function.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally in the morning I will hold two self-care sessions, which focus on things like showering and dressing. This differs depending on the patient\u2019s needs. For example, I might demonstrate these tasks, or use a chart or flash cards to go through the steps with them. Then I will have a leisure session. This could be baking, where we practice skills in the Activity of Daily Living (ADL) kitchen. It could also be playing Wii \u2013 leisure sessions are about assisting the patient in practicing play and leisure activities.<\/p>\n

I might have a patient session where we do some Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) work. This involves a machine that sends out electrical currents that target muscles and strengthen them, to help restore function.<\/p>\n

Throughout the day, I see outpatients that have left hospital, but need some assistance with everyday life at home and at school. I also have \u2018family meetings\u2019 with a multidisciplinary team of rehab staff; doctors, speech pathologists, physiotherapists, the RCH Education Institute<\/a> staff, neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, nurses and the patient’s family.\u201d<\/p>\n

With such busy and rewarding roles, what do Chanel and Erin love about their jobs?<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that it\u2019s diverse \u2013 I do completely different things according to the child\u2019s needs.\u201d Chanel said.<\/p>\n

Erin says, \u201cI enjoy that I address the small things that families are often unsure about, like how to dress their child once they get home. Families really appreciate the focus on what happens beyond hospital. Children and families want to return home and we help them achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more about OT Week here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In celebration of OT Week, we caught up with two of our Occupational Therapists to talk about the work that they do and how it impacts the lives of patients and families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3446"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3491,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3446\/revisions\/3491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}