Friday, 28 January 2011

A big occupational therapy society

I used to work alongside occupational therapists and far from the caricature of making wicker baskets I thought they did a very professional job helping people adapt their environments so that they could do what they want to do. This is why I was surprised to hear a story yesterday.

A friend phoned and said that her neighbour had been referred to the occupational therapist and rather than get a home visit they had a talk and were given a prescription for aids to daily living. They were to go to a local shop where they would receive the items. Previously there was a home visit, assessment and delivery and fitting of the equipment that was needed. This time my friend had to go to collect the prescription, fit them in the house after adjusting the sizes of some items like a mobility aid.

She phoned up to see why she had been asked to help and was told that family and friends can do such things. She doesn't know this person well and his son lives many miles away. I did not think the big society meant getting rid of some occupational therapists, and the loan stores.

Change the world

No comments:

Post a Comment