I served Hospice on a contractual basis for a few years and received very few referrals. I did inservice the Hospice staff on OT's role with Hospice, focusing on support, adaptive devices and compensatory techniques. However, the Hospice staff seemed primarily interested in the issue of restrictiveness vs. positioning and safety in wheel chairs, seats and beds. I still did not receive very many referrals after the inservice. The county that I worked with only saw clients who were in the very end stages of their illness.
On a personal note, my mother had a terminal illness four years ago. She was very much in denial about her brain tumor and felt she would find cure. Mom also would not accept Hospice because she was going to find a cure for this. As an OT, it became my role to approach her about the need for a wheelchair and shower chair and feeding equipment. It was extremely difficult because the need for these equipment was a concrete indication of the progression of her tumor; however she wanted to stay as independent as possible for as long as possible. So, I was allowed to borrow equipment from my job and keep her going as much as possible. She was not interested in her usual occupations other than basic self care at this point. This whole experience tuned me into the interpersonal family struggles that occur when a loved one is in denial about their condition and such things like the dignity of being able to feed ones self versus being fed by someone else and so forth....Joanne -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2001 9:38 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Hospice and OT I have almost no experience in hospice, but have two OT friends that do...from what I know they do, in addition to how I practice OT, I would say that the role of the OT in this setting should be to enable occupation. I know that sounds ridiculously simple, but if the clients are truly recieving OT, they should be getting the benefit of a therapist who can help them determine which occupations are pertinent to the quality of their daily life in this last stage (i.e., using the COPM), with a care plan that reflects how those occupations can be achieved. This isn't to say that positioning, splinting, etc are not a part of the plan; if they enable the client to engage in occupations, then they are a necessary intervention. I think in the area of hospice we also have to remember that a persons occupational sphere is shrinking, and that a meaningful occupation may be as simple as being able to sit up each day for 30 minutes when the children come home from school, etc. Also, and this is the beauty of the COPM, the family's needs can be considered too. And of course environmental assessment and recommendations, in addition to family/caregiver education are a given. I would love to hear what others are thinking... *********��*********** Unsubscribe? Send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] *********��*********** *********��*********** Unsubscribe? Send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message's *body*, put the following text: unsubscribe OTlist List messages are archived at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] *********��***********
