Primary care
Elizabeth Smith , Vicky Jones and Beth Jackson-Dale share how they have been exploring Tai Chi / Qi Gong and acupuncture as interventions to provide a return to meaningful occupation .
Primary care
Feature
Utilising Eastern health practices in primary care
Elizabeth Smith , Vicky Jones and Beth Jackson-Dale share how they have been exploring Tai Chi / Qi Gong and acupuncture as interventions to provide a return to meaningful occupation .
T he Leek and Biddulph Primary Care Network Occupational Therapy Service was launched in January 2021 . The team utilised RCOT primary care resources and the evidence base , alongside the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service ( NHS England 2023 ), to develop an early intervention service focusing on disease prevention and supporting the management of newly-diagnosed long-term mental and physical health conditions .
The Primary Care Network ( PCN ) Occupational Therapy team comprises of one full-time and two part-time staff members and covers five GP practices ; three in Leek and two in Biddulph .
The team works with individuals with a range of conditions impacting their quality of life and ability to engage in everyday meaningful occupations . The support offered by the PCN OT team includes :
• mental wellbeing
• pain and fatigue management
• falls prevention
• environmental assessment ( when required )
• supporting people with mild to moderate frailty , vocational rehabilitation and dementia support .
Considering the aim of providing effective and preventative interventions across such a wide range of needs , the use of Eastern practices , such as Tai Chi / Qi Gong and acupuncture , were researched by the occupational therapy team .
Both interventions demonstrated a good evidence base for affecting change and also in supporting a return to meaningful occupation , as well as symptom control . All members of the occupational therapy team trained in delivering either one or both of the interventions in order to provide cover for both Leek and Biddulph GP Surgeries .
Evidence base and link to occupational therapy : acupuncture :
The ancient practice of acupuncture started in China approximately 3,000 years ago . In the 1950s , Chinese scholars began to integrate Western medical knowledge into the traditional Chinese medicine approach to acupuncture , resulting in the synthesis of Eastern and Western practices .
This has allowed practitioners across the globe to enhance the treatments available for patients with many medical conditions in a holistic manner ( Hao and Mittelman 2014 ).
Acupuncture is recommended as an intervention for chronic primary pain by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( NICE 2021 ). Chronic primary pain is defined by NICE as pain that ‘ has no clear underlying condition or its impact is out of proportion to any observable injury or disease ’.
GP consultations for pain account for 22 % of all primary care consultations ( Mäntyselkä et al 2003 ) and pain is one of the main reasons for patients seeking contact with healthcare practitioners .
30 OTnews February 2024