OT and what it means to me

OT and what it means to me

It’s 10:30 on a gloomy Spring day and Sarah Robertson, Occupational Therapist, is meeting her client Adam, for his wheelchair delivery.

“Being an OT is my passion and something I love doing – I moved from WA to work here and support people living in rural NSW” Sarah says.

As Adam’s OT, Sarah’s role is to optimise his independence and safety with daily activities like personal care, domestic tasks, community/leisure engagement, mobility, and pressure care management.

Sarah is also finding innovative, assistive technologies or home adaptations/modifications that may assist with improving Adam’s independence and safety.

On this particular morning, Sarah and Adam are waiting for Craig, a local equipment supplier from Regency Care – who is delivering Adam’s new wheelchair (with a bright green base to resemble Adam’s vibrant personality). Sarah will then be assisting Craig with the wheelchair set-up and then supporting Adam to build his confidence and knowledge with his new wheelchair.

“This is quite a lengthy process which starts well before Adam receives his wheelchair. We begin by identifying Adam’s goals, which in this case was increasing his independence with his mobility which we could achieve through a power wheelchair. Then I assess his postural support and functional needs and research wheelchair frames that will best suit Adam, his home and work environments.”

With this information, Sarah arranges wheelchair trials with a local equipment supplier before completing a final wheelchair script for Adam. Sarah then submits a report to the NDIS for funding. Once approved, Regency Care is contacted and the wheelchair is ordered and made specifically to Sarah’s assessment and Adam’s requests. Adam’s goal of gaining independence with his mobility, health and wellbeing has been achieved today and both Sarah and Adam’s large smiles are hard to miss.

A few weeks after Sarah and Craig’s visit, we spoke to Adam about how his new wheelchair was working against his identified goals.

“My mental health has improved immensely, the fact that I can get out and talk to people with ease is incredible.”

“The benefits of changing from a manual to a power wheelchair means I can move around the house and community freely – I have already logged 25km on it!”

This OT week we acknowledge client successes, like Adam’s, and we thank our OTs for the work they continue to do and this week we celebrate them and their achievements.