Occupational Therapists

Frail older adults

Rehabilitation for older adults to stay well at home. Use of risk stratification tools, rapid access, assessment of the home and short-term interventions including advice on how people can be safely managed. Will also include working into care homes and palliative care, dealing with undifferentiated diagnosis and red flags

Our goals:

• admission avoidance
• speedy discharge from hospital
• enabling the person to remain in their chosen home environment

Following occupational therapy, patients’ average number of visits in a month to see their GP have either halved or been reduced by up to 72%.

Adults with mental health problems

Empowering adults with mental health problems to improve their everyday lives. Patients who need more than psychological therapies (IAPT) but do not need a referral to secondary mental health services; either struggle to access IAPT/social prescribing or attend but cannot translate it into actual change. Patients have a higher degree of complexity and nonvisible disability, often present with undifferentiated diagnosis and red flags – neurodiversity, head injury, mild learning disability, literacy problems. Occupational therapists often need to pinpoint unresolved underlying issues that result in frequent attendance in primary care.

Our goals:

• measurable change in the person's everyday life
• more active/able to look after themselves and their home
• do the things they need to do, go to work etc. OT often needs to pinpoint unresolved underlying issues that result in frequent attendance in primary care.

Following two sessions (on average) with an occupational therapist, patients are 66% more confident and there is a 50% reduction in GP appointments.

Vocational support for adults

Supporting patients with health and work problems to self manage. Adults with persistent health and work problems, who are off work sick, requesting GP Fit Notes and who have mental health and/or MSK health problems. The occupational therapists offer self-management advice to target health problem; detailed, tailored advice on workplace modifications and employer liaison to support these modifications by telephone and/or workplace visit. Use of the AHP Health and Work Report provides standard, recognisable documentation for patient and employer.

My experience as an occupational therapist working in this clinic has been really exciting actually, because we’ve been able to spend quality time with the people that have been referred to us. Giving a really holistic intervention and following them up, reviewing them and seeing progress along the way, helping people back into work. But it’s not just been about work, because we’re occupational therapists, so we look at the whole person. So, it’s been really exciting to see people make changes to their health and wellbeing as well which has impacted upon how they’re managing at work day to day.



Occupational Therapist

Our goals:

• reduction in sickness absence
• reduced requests for GP Fit notes

• Following two sessions (on average) with an occupational therapist, patients absense rates dropped from 71 to 15%.
• Following two sessions (on average) with an occupational therapist, patients use of GP 'fit' notes reduced from 71 to 16%.