How occupational therapists can help elderly people

Many of us meet occupational therapists for the first time when we have an older relative ready to leave hospital.

They focus on enabling people to get back on their feet after illness or injury. Their aim is to help people retain their independence as much as possible and to continue with the activities they need to do or enjoy, like hobbies and social activities.

They are also employed throughout the health service by local councils and care homes. Many specialise in areas such as mental health, including dementia, and strokes.

Home or care home?

If the person has the capacity to understand and make their own decisions they can talk to the occupational therapist about what they feel their needs are.

They can provide an evaluation of the patient’s home, and make recommendations to help the patient live independently. They can also assess the patient’s ability to get around their community.

If the person still wishes to go home then a risk plan will be agreed with the team outlining the risks and what is in place to minimise them.

The person can then return home but with help in place to review how they are managing. The aim is to help people carry on with their day-to-day occupations as well as they can.

After leaving hospital, the patient may need intense help for a short period of time. Reablement or intermediate care teams work with people, usually for a period of up to six weeks, setting goals such as getting up the stairs to sleep every night or making meals, and working to achieve those goals.

The occupational therapist will look at the person’s strengths and skills as well as any help that’s available to them, and then make suggestions which could help to make life easier. This could be a range of things from small changes in the kitchen to fitting a bathroom downstairs.

Occupational therapist and dementia

If the patient has dementia, an occupational therapist can help in a number of ways:

• They can advise carers on communication and how to help a person with dementia to take part in activities. This can have benefits in reducing symptoms of dementia that can be difficult to cope with such as aggression or restlessness.
• They can show you how to bring back happy memories to help them increase their mental capacity.
• They’ll advise on home adaptations and alarms to minimise risk and provide advice to carers about giving help and sharing activities.

How you can contact an occupational therapist

If you feel a relative could benefit from help from an occupational therapist while they’re still living at home, you could speak to their GP or district nurse.

Alternatively you can contact an independent occupational therapist privately. More information is available at www.cotss-ip.org.uk.

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