Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapists support people to optimise the tasks of everyday life with an emphasis on safety, confidence, comfort and independence.
We primarily help people living with physical and/or neurological disabilities to improve their occupational skills in any area of their lives, this often relates to
- Self-care activities (showering, dressing, toileting)
- Meal planning and food preparation
- Education, work, or volunteering
- Leisure activities or exercise
Our Occupational Therapists primarily deliver home visit assessments, functional rehabilitation, prescribing assistive equipment and more to the community of Brisbane, QLD.
Home Visiting OTs in Brisbane
Specifically Helping With:
The skills we work on will vary significantly from client to client, depending on their individual needs. Some of the key skills we assist with include:
- Fine motor skills
- Gross motor skills
- Cognitive skills
- Self-care skills
- Visual perception
- Organisational skills
- Falls prevention
- Social engagement skills
- Nutritional meal planning and preparation
- Navigating technology, including phones and tablets (to assist with items such as internet banking)
- Domestic organisation (such as decluttering, routine-setting or time management)
University Trained, Highly Experienced OT
Our Occupational Therapist is extremely well qualified. She has a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, including an honours year during which she was a project director working with people with autism.
Her work experience includes:
- Running chronic disease self-management workshops
- Working in community care for people who are aged and disabled
- Working in adult rehabilitation services, day hospitals and palliative care (both in the UK and in Australia)
She has clinical experience supporting clients with a wide range of Occupational Therapy requirements including:
- Daily activity retraining
- Cognitive retraining
- Upper limb management and retraining
- Energy conservation and relaxation
- Education regarding falls prevention
Occupational Therapy Services
Accessible By
We support clients from the whole community, including:
- Adult NDIS participants
- Self-funded private patients
- Private health insurance patients
- Commonwealth Home Support Program participants
- Short Term Restorative Care participants
- Home Care Package recipients.
NDIS Services
Our services are broad-ranging and will always be tailored to suit the individual. Some of the services we offer include:
- Prescribing, trialling, and reviewing assistive equipment
- Home modification drafting and project management
- Submitting NDIS request forms
- Functional rehabilitation
Our work often involves home visits, during which we carry out comprehensive assessments to determine exactly how we can best support someone to meet their goals.
Assistive Equipment
Some of the items we regularly prescribe are:
- Wheelchairs and power wheelchairs
- Beds with additional functionality
- Assistive aids for hands
- Equipment that can help to raise the height of a bed or a chair
- Sit-to-stand chairs
Assistive equipment may provide a complete and immediate solution, or it may open up other avenues for treatment with additional follow-ups being required.
All of these elements would be comprehensively assessed and communicated by our Occupational Therapist.
Home Modifications
These days home modifications can be very creative, depending on the property, the existing structure of the house, and the person’s needs.
Common home modifications include:
- Ramps
- Rails (particularly in bathrooms and toilets)
- Stair lifts/climbers
- Bathroom modifications (such as changing to a handheld shower head or replacing a bathtub with an accessible shower)
Innovative OT
There are many different technological interventions to help people with living with a disability.
Our Occupational Therapist keeps up to date with new developments and will introduce our clients to any technologies that would bring value to their lives. This might include:
- User-friendly telephones
- Talk to text devices
- Devices for people with lowered vision
- Helpful software applications such as our own ‘Clock Yourself’
- Stepping tools
- Intercoms to manage people arriving at their home in a safe manner.
Range of Conditions
We are often asked what conditions we work with.
Our Occupational Therapist has sixteen years experience working with clients who have a broad range of neurological, orthopaedic and medical conditions.
Examples include: Stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Early-onset dementia, Multiple sclerosis, Multiple system atrophy, Spinocerebellar ataxia, Functional neurological disorders, Huntington’s disease, Terminal illness e.g. advanced metastatic cancer, Peripheral neuropathy, Rheumatoid arthritis, Critical care polyneuropathy, Cerebral palsy & Acquired Brain Injury.
In reality, we don’t have a list of categories or conditions we will or will not work with. No two people are the same, even if they have the same diagnosis. This is especially true when it comes to people with neurological conditions. As Emily Dickinson said, “The brain is wider than the sky”.
Occupational Therapy FAQ
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For clients who cannot speak English, is it possible for a family member or interpreter to attend the meeting?
Yes. Family members or interpreters are very welcome to attend meetings and appointments.
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How long do consultations go for?
An initial consultation with an Occupational Therapist is routinely 90 minutes. However, when scheduling the first appointment we will establish what the client’s preliminary needs are and may suggest extending that initial appointment time.
Conversely, if 90 minutes sounds overwhelming for somebody then we might suggest breaking up that assessment over several shorter home visits. We are always aware of making sure appointments are not too onerous or fatiguing for the client.
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What do I need to bring to my first appointment?
We suggest that having any recent medical summaries or hospital discharge letters at hand.
Additionally, any devices or aids (for example, orthotics) that are no longer helpful or that need to be reviewed can be examined and discussed at initial appointments too.
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Do you provide reports as well as assessments?
What we deliver depends upon what the client is looking to achieve.
In some cases, a home visit will be followed by a comprehensive report outlining any recommended interventions. These interventions may vary from actual therapy to prescribing home modifications. The report may then also be provided to their GP or NDIS support coordinator.
In other cases, a client may not require a comprehensive report at all, and may simply want a one-off home assessment.
An Occupational Therapy home visit will generally take about one hour to conduct but, depending on the complexity of the case, it may require two hours or more.
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What are the wait times to see an Occupational Therapist for the first time?
Wherever possible we ensure that our wait times are less than two weeks for an initial appointment.
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How long does an equipment trial take?
If we are helping a client with new equipment, part of the process will be discussing with them the dates and time frames they can expect. It may be a series of appointments, or assessments, to determine exactly what is required.
The process may include:
- Assessments and recommendations
- Funding applications and approval timeframes
- Measuring up for specific equipment or modifications
- Delivery of equipment (followed by additional assessments to confirm equipment suitability or make any adjustments required)
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Does Next Step Health provide reports to support NDIS funding applications for assistive technology?
Yes, we do.
We don’t apply directly to the NDIS on behalf of a client, but we can provide reports to the NDIS support coordinator which can then be used to support funding applications.
