OTnews August 2020 | Page 28

FEATURE REABLEMENT
However, I am also part of that rota and often on
standby to be a visiting occupational therapist, either
to assess for equipment needs or to offer support
and guidance to carers.
There have been a high number of two handed
care calls. In practice, we achieved a lot via
distanced assessments, but it remained essential to
have the support of occupational therapy staff
available for visits.
As life has formed its
own ‘new norm’, my
manager role has
become less active and
I have had time to reflect.
The need for reablement
and rehabilitation post-
COVID-19 is being
highlighted by both
RCOT and ADAS, as has
the role for occupational
therapy.
Time for strategy, planning
and once again catching up as the
new recruit is re-emerging, but now
with a new set of experiences to draw on.
need for
reablement and rehabilitation
post-COVID-19 is being
highlighted by both RCOT
and ADAS, as has the role
for occupational
‘‘The
therapy.
For instance, it is unclear how the care home
sector will be going forward and how things will
change to safeguard it; could it become nursing care
dominated and leave an even greater emphasis on
independence at home in social care, or will it evolve
to something that has greater capacity to support
rehabilitation, recuperation, respite
and convalescence, requiring
therapists of their own?
I had been
employed to bring a
greater occupational
therapy emphasis
to the reablement service in Solihull and so
development of the service was already in process
and we were exploring models of care and practice,
outcome measures and possible scope of the
service.
Initially it was daunting, because I had to lead a
path that those around me knew so much better than
me, and I had somehow to grow that into an
optimal service and draw emphatically
on occupational therapist’s
professional core skills.
Now it is a progression
that has to be put together
from the paths, events,
ideas and experiences
of recent times, as well
as the history that went
before.
What do we pursue
of the previous service
and what needs to be new?
How much time do we have
to plan? What resources do we
have to draw on and how has the
demand for the service changed? What of the
long term? Will we see the return of these emergency
measures and disruption again to our service, or can
we build a flexible and resilient service?
I think occupational therapy gives me wonderful
toolkit to use in these new times, but the newness
of it all makes a hazy view of the future; 2020 might
have seemed the year of clear vision, however
the lights are on in the tunnels, but we will have to
discover which ones we can take to reach the other
end.
Jo Jackson, occupational therapist, reablement
team manager, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
28 OTnews August 2020
© GettyImages/Mary Wandler