Rehabilitation
Feature
The job I love
Bhavini Pandya has been an occupational therapy and physiotherapy assistant for almost eight years . Here , she talks about her work and how , as part of the rehab team , she is supporting local people who are facing advancing illness to continue living life in a way that is meaningful to them .
B havini Pandya is an occupational therapy and physiotherapy assistant working as part of the rehab team at Michael Sobell House in Northwood . ‘ We take a very holistic approach to care and support , incorporating so many different areas ,’ she says .
‘ It ’ s all about empowering our patients and keeping them as independent as possible and what we do is very much patient focused and an individualised form of care . We work with our patients , rather than doing things for them .’
She goes on : ‘ My role is quite a varied one , although it centres around the mobilisation of patients : keeping them safe , looking at exercises to maintain their strength levels and , if things change , providing alternative ways of being mobile .
‘ I also support people with pain relief , using TENS machines that disrupt the pain pathways and replace the feeling of pain with a little sensation caused by an electric current . Also , our team helps with falls management , using a variety of techniques to minimise the risk of falls .
‘ It ’ s all about making sure people can be mobile safely and providing whatever support is required to achieve that .’
From an occupational therapy point of view , the team is focused on enabling people to continue doing what they could do while at home .
‘ This includes looking at their activities of daily living – how they wash , how they dress , how they eat – and if those have changed due to illness or deterioration , we look for alternative ways that they can do them ,’ she explains .
‘ This can involve looking at fatigue management , sleep hygiene , relaxation and anxiety management , and providing equipment on the ward . We are always looking for things that we can improve for them and to make things easier .
‘ This extends into the community when they ’ re discharged from our inpatient unit . For example , when they go home or into a nursing home , we will try to provide that equipment from social services for them .’
Bhavini Pandya
She adds : ‘ We also do a lot of psychological work and talking therapies , looking at where people ’ s boundaries are and trying to resolve those by talking about them so they can cope with things better .
‘ We help people to build their confidence back up when they start to deteriorate and find doing things that they loved doing previously difficult . We work with them to discover alternative means for them to continue doing what they love .’
On the memorable moments since she started working in this field , Bhavini says ‘ there have been many ’.
She shares an example : ‘ I went to see a lady for about eight weeks who was really struggling . She just wanted some company at home and someone to come and look at physio , exercise , shortness of breath and fatigue management .
‘ She didn ’ t want to come into a hospice or into hospital . However , as I spoke to her and told her of the work that I do and what hospice care was all about , she started to understand that the inpatient unit is not just somewhere people go to die . It is also a place where you can go for respite and to learn new skills and then you can go back home .
‘ She became a bit more open to coming into Michael Sobell House after that . When she began to deteriorate and became poorly , eventually she chose to stay with us . Making this decision to leave her home and enter into a new and unfamiliar place was a big deal for her , but she felt able to do so because of the relationship we had developed over the eight weeks of outpatient care .’
Bhavini concludes : ‘ Physiotherapy and occupational therapy enhance people ’ s lives . They allow you to maintain independence , overcome boundaries and barriers and be able to live in an environment that you want to be in . I ’ m very lucky to be able to do it and I love my work .’
Words BHAVINI PANDYA , Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy Assistant , Michael Sobell House in Northwood . For any further information contact hsteele @ harlingtonhospice . org
April 2023 OTnews 47