As you might know, skilled nursing communities are incredibly beneficial in numerous ways. Ranging from a better quality of life to improved physical, mental, and emotional health, the community can enjoy the best retirement experience with the assistance of skilled and trained team members. With that said, let us take a further look into occupational therapy in Pendleton, TX skilled nursing communities.
The Role of Occupational Therapists in Skilled Nursing Communities
Occupational therapists take a comprehensive approach to health. Not only are they trained to intervene and access health factors, but they are also ultimately interested in how these factors affect your or your loved one’s ability to perform the necessary or wanted tasks. These can refer to a range of health factors, including mobility, motor planning, strength, cognition, and range of motion.
Not to mention, these tasks are frequently the bare minimum of activities required for clients in skilled nursing communities to return to a lower level of care, or perhaps even, back home. What is required for someone to be safely discharged from a skilled nursing community varies.
However, a set of tasks known as Basic Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is critical for all patients, as these are the critical tasks that patients must plan to complete in order to thrive. Bathing, dressing, grooming, mobility, and eating are examples of ADLs. IADLs (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) are tasks that are also important to one’s quality of life but are more complex and easier to delegate to other caregivers.
When appropriate, your occupational therapist (OT) will examine and treat you for IADLs. Occupational therapists may also propose and give training in changing your surroundings and equipment you may use for doing everyday duties to make your transition from a skilled nursing community as smooth as feasible.
Occupational Therapy Treatment
Your treatments might last as little as eight minutes and no longer than an hour. (Keep in mind that the therapies must be reasonable. Your therapies must be relevant to your goals and fit within the scope of your treatment plan. For example, if you start having problems with your wheelchair, it is within an OT’s scope of practice to address this; however, if wheelchair management was not included in the original plan of care, she would need to update the plan of care and obtain approval from the healthcare provider before proceeding.
Treatments can be administered by an occupational therapist or a qualified occupational therapy assistant. Occupational therapy assistants may be present to assist with the procedure, but they cannot provide expert treatments.
Your OT therapies will most likely consist of a combination of practicing the skills you’ll need to go home and addressing the physical, cognitive, and emotional health issues that make these necessary activities challenging.
Specialized Occupational Therapy Services
Occupational therapists begin their careers as entry-level generalists after graduating from occupational therapy school. However, even a recent graduate should be well-educated and prepared to assist you in attaining your ADL and iADL objectives.
Many occupational therapists will specialize in certain therapeutic modalities and areas of practice during the course of their careers. SNFs may look for occupational therapists with particular training and certification.
Within a skilled nursing community context, common areas of specialty include: preventing falls, assessment of driving, dementia care, mobility, and seating, as well as management of
