Q & A with Adam Ferry
Who reflects on his experience of bathing assessments across both the statutory and private sectors .
Q
What ’ s your role and experience in the area of medically focused bathing ?
A I have been involved in bathing assessments within many different scenarios , as part of discharge planning , through to complex case management engagement , and through supervising other therapists across the UK . This has provided me with a unique opportunity to reflect on the application of occupational therapy values and principles within my own practice and the profession more generally .
Let ’ s make it clear ; my personal reflection highlights that for a large part of my initial career as an occupational therapist I treated bathing as a transfer assessment . I rarely recall asking anyone : Why do you bathe ?’ Instead focusing firmly on :’ How do you bathe ? The two questions are distinctly different .
Through my clinical and business experiences I have reflected that within children ’ s services it is more widely accepted that bathing forms an important part of a child ’ s daily routine and therefore recommendations for specialist bathing adaptations are more commonplace .
This is likely due to legislation and the general acceptance that bathing for a child is part of a normal routine . It should be noted that even this is not without challenge . However , for
adults the propensity to recommend showering increases significantly , with bathing often seen as an adaptation only justifiable to meet certain medical , and particularly physical , needs .
It is this clinical reasoning that I have challenged during delivery of CPD through reflection on the evidence base and my experiences .
Q
What is medically focused bathing and why is it recommended ?
A Let ’ s consider one of the common reasons why we recommend bathing from a medical perspective . When writing a CPD presentation for the Abacus Academy in 2020 , I had some preconceived ideas about the evidence that supported my ideas of how bathing can meet medical needs .
For example , I was confident to recommend bathing for muscular or orthopaedic pain relief . This was reinforced by many other colleagues when I asked the specific question at events around the UK .
I started to write the presentation with the idea that , although people did not know explicitly what the evidence was , they were right , and I would simply make that evidence clear to support the view . After searching for the evidence over a few days , to find that there was none , the presentation took a very different angle .
I have been involved in bathing assessments within many different scenarios ... This has provided me with a unique opportunity to reflect on the application of occupational therapy values and principles within my own practice and the profession more generally .”
50 OTnews February 2022