Hi, I'm currently a 2nd year OT student and am doing a paper on system change. does anyone have any ideas on how they would like to see occupational therapists more involved in primary healthcare?
I am currently doing my dissertation on Occupational Therapist not having a clinical role in primary healthcare, mainly focusing on General Practitioners. I am happy to talk to you more about your interests in this
"I’m in the US and we had a doctor in our hospital system who wanted to have an OT right there in his office if he felt like his patient needed a therapy referral. Awesome! It was in pain management instead of primary care, but still a great opportunity. I was planning on doing a screen or maybe even an eval directly after the doctor saw the patient and then get them scheduled at our outpatient clinic. Excellent continuity of care.
The whole thing fell apart due to insurance restrictions and department budget. Many insurances require pre authorisation before a patient can be seen by therapy. we were unsure how screenings would work. And the therapists time was going to come out of the rehab department’s budget. so if there was no way to bill for the therapists time there was no way our department had the money to offer that service.
In order to really integrate, hospitals and insurances would have to get rid of a fee for service model. And the hoops to jump through for insurance approval. Sad but true."LinkedIn page - Debbie Brewin: "Definitely a role - in Mental Health as well as Physical Health. If anyone is interested in training to deliver a psychosocial intervention as part of a clinical trial aimed at reducing the impact of diabetic foot ulcers, please get in touch here: debbie.1.brewin@kcl.ac.uk"
LinkedIn page - Deborah Ann Tacoma:"Toileting aid practice as mobility and reach decreases. DLA are added often too late or when there is not the ability to practice/become habitiual. When they are needed, they can't be tolerated."
In my mental health role I am trying to integrate with GPs in primary mental health care. I think that role of OT is vast in supporting both mental and physical health conditions through psycho-education groups, assessing occupational needs, social prescribing and mobility/ cognitive assessment. OTs can support GPs with assessing fitness for work, diagnosis and overall treatment planning/ referral to specialist services.
Thanks for reaching out Gabrielle! Can you clarify which country you are based in and therefore what you mean by 'primary healthcare?' This will aid responses. We'll bring your forum to the attention of Members in the coming week, via our social networks.
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I am currently doing my dissertation on Occupational Therapist not having a clinical role in primary healthcare, mainly focusing on General Practitioners. I am happy to talk to you more about your interests in this
Hi @Gabrielle. A number of the Hub's social media followers have commented on your query - and are happy for their views being shared here. See below:
Occupational Therapy Community (Facebook group) - Whitney Hutchings:
"I’m in the US and we had a doctor in our hospital system who wanted to have an OT right there in his office if he felt like his patient needed a therapy referral. Awesome! It was in pain management instead of primary care, but still a great opportunity. I was planning on doing a screen or maybe even an eval directly after the doctor saw the patient and then get them scheduled at our outpatient clinic. Excellent continuity of care.
The whole thing fell apart due to insurance restrictions and department budget. Many insurances require pre authorisation before a patient can be seen by therapy. we were unsure how screenings would work. And the therapists time was going to come out of the rehab department’s budget. so if there was no way to bill for the therapists time there was no way our department had the money to offer that service.
In order to really integrate, hospitals and insurances would have to get rid of a fee for service model. And the hoops to jump through for insurance approval. Sad but true." LinkedIn page - Debbie Brewin: "Definitely a role - in Mental Health as well as Physical Health. If anyone is interested in training to deliver a psychosocial intervention as part of a clinical trial aimed at reducing the impact of diabetic foot ulcers, please get in touch here: debbie.1.brewin@kcl.ac.uk"
LinkedIn page - Deborah Ann Tacoma: "Toileting aid practice as mobility and reach decreases. DLA are added often too late or when there is not the ability to practice/become habitiual. When they are needed, they can't be tolerated."
LinkedIn page - Gillian Fish:
"I have been working in primary care as an OT for almost 10 years. Message me if you want to chat about it."
Instagram page - @fiona.maggie:
"Hello I work in primary care as an OT. Happy to say more in what I'm doing."
In my mental health role I am trying to integrate with GPs in primary mental health care. I think that role of OT is vast in supporting both mental and physical health conditions through psycho-education groups, assessing occupational needs, social prescribing and mobility/ cognitive assessment. OTs can support GPs with assessing fitness for work, diagnosis and overall treatment planning/ referral to specialist services.
Thanks for reaching out Gabrielle! Can you clarify which country you are based in and therefore what you mean by 'primary healthcare?' This will aid responses. We'll bring your forum to the attention of Members in the coming week, via our social networks.