Occupational Therapists Help Patients In Their Homes

Home Health occupational therapy staff Beth Holden, OT; and Taylor Larson, COTA.

Occupational Therapists help patients in their homes

Some people think that home health care primarily means nursing care. Home care services are provided by registered nurses, certified home health aides, physical, speech, and occupational therapists and medical social workers. Occupational therapy in the home provides a unique opportunity to work within the patient’s natural and familiar home environment.

Occupational therapy a form of therapy that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of the activities required in daily life.

Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in home health gather information about a patient’s habitual daily routines and have the opportunity to talk about and observe the activities their patients want or need to do.

Occupational therapists help their patients with:

• Individualized occupational therapy evaluations to determine patient driven goals

• Customized plans designed to improve performance of daily activities and additional engaging activities, such as home management and child rearing

• Recommendations for adaptive equipment in the home

• Guidance for family members and caregivers

• Periodic reassessments to ensure goals are consistently being met. If not, adjustments can be made to the plan to accommodate setbacks or unexpected progression.

Some of the key roles of the occupational therapist are to identify possible barriers for the patient and encourage progress and make changes as needed. They also have training in clinical assessment skills and monitoring vital signs, in case they need to contact the patient’s provider, or on very rare occasions, emergency medical services.

CCH Home Health’s occupational therapy team consists of Occupational Therapist Beth Holden and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant Taylor Larson.

This excellent team has improved the functional outcomes for their patients such as:

• Improvement in patients’ ability to bathe: 90.5% of patients served by CCH Home Health improved in their functional ability to bathe themselves while in our care. This is far above the national average for Home Health agencies, which is 84%. 

 Find comparisons of home health providers at: Find Healthcare Providers: Compare Care Near You | Medicare

Campbell County Health's Home Health provides care to patients at home—where they receive support from trained medical professionals, family, friends, plus the comfort of familiar surroundings.