FEATURE MENTAL HEALTH
Keeping weekly contact during lockdown
We hear from occupational therapist Lesley-Anne Frazer and service user Jason *, who have been using video conferencing technology during the pandemic , to enable occupational therapy to continue
© GettyImages / skynesher
Specialist occupational therapist Lesley- Anne Frazer works in a community mental health team in Lanarkshire . As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and resulting staff redeployment to physical healthcare settings , the team left in place was faced with some dramatic changes to how they provided ongoing treatment to patients in need .
Lesley began using Near Me / Attend Anywhere as an alternative to face-to-face appointments , and specifically to enable her to continue to support one man on her caseload who has an eating disorder , marked anxiety , and poor functional skills in relation to activities of daily living .
Jason * was also working with the community eating disorder dietitian , receiving regular Near Me appointments with her , and had previously been working with the occupational therapy assistant practitioner regarding food shopping , increasing the variety of food within his diet , with a view to then carrying this onto food preparation skills within his home .
Lesley explains : ‘ We had been following a graded exposure programme with him , regarding entering a local coffee shop , asking for and paying for a drink , then drinking his drink in public . This was then to progress onto eating in public , which would enable him to be less socially isolated by allowing him to meet up with a friend in the local coffee shop .’
However , due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and in line with guidance , Jason needed his occupational therapy input adapting accordingly .
‘ Near Me allowed us to continue to progress with his occupational therapy treatment plan . Although we were unable to continue on with the shopping / graded exposure part of his treatment plan , we were able to move on with the food preparation skills development part .
42 OTnews December 2020