I really think this is a manager/facility problem that can be solved by the facility. I think the occupation-based therapy that we need to be delivering takes planning and prep time that isn't available when everyone is asking for 80-90% productivity. If the facility would drop the productivity standard for 3-6 months and allow the therapists to have a planning period of time daily (maybe even set up some team brainstorming time) that is separate from their paperwork time, the therapists would begin to develop a repertoire of great tasks to use when patients had similar challenges and goals. After that time, I really think the therapists would be much faster at pulling activities out of their "hats" and productivity would rise again.
I have always felt that the productivity expectations and large caseloads are a large contributing factor in therapists losing their ability to think out of the box. It seems like everyone is so stressed just to get all of their patients seen and meet all of the paperwork requirements that there isn't any time to plan patient-specific sessions unless they do their planning off the clock. I was always so burned out at the end of the day that I couldn't imagine taking my work issues home (but that is exactly what I ended up doing...planning activities, shopping for supplies, etc. Jenny D. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carmen Aguirre Sent: Friday, September 07, 2007 8:43 PM To: OTlist Subject: Re: [OTlist] Marketing Results This posting brings me back to the "pegs and Putty therapy" we deliver and call it OT. Many of colleagues claim that with the ease of portability, these tools are the best they can do therapy with... Where do we put the blame for lack of occupation in our treatments besides the obvious morning ADL session and occasional cooking task if we are lucky? When practitioners claim lack of resources...where do we expect to get them...at the facilities? within our own bag of tricks? from our managesr... Thanks Carmen From: "Johnson, Arley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [email protected] To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [OTlist] Marketing Results Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:21:13 -0400 >Thanks Ron and Sue! I have forwarded your comments to my OT staff because I have felt they have fell into that blanket treatment ideology for LE ortho patients. They make me feel as if I don't get it, but I think it's the other way around. I think I have tried everything for them to think outside the box. During their annual reviews, I have discussed this with them and spoke to them that if you identify 5/5 UE strength and no other deficits on the eval, why address UE strength in your treatment??? My staff responses have placed the blame back to limited resources which I don't understand, but I'll find out in our next staff meeting. > >Here is my last email to them: >"I'm forwarding you all the comments below. When seeing ortho patients we need to really try to tailor our treatment to what they need, not just place them in our therapy program. It's very easy for ortho patients to make the connection with the PT aspect of the program, but not ours. So we need to make sure we stick close to our OT philosophy and theory to ensure we are making an impact on their lives!" > >Their responses: >"This email is so sad but true. I think our department is doing a good job in caring for the patients in rehab. We just need to find a new way to package our program and market it both to the patients and the staff of this hospital. More appropriate and diversified activities would be a start. We can only do so much with what we have. Let's come up with some ideas and discuss tem at our next meeting. " > >"This is something I've been thinking about for a while, and although I keep patient's individual needs in mind, and try tailoring their sessions, there is only so far I can go given our limited resources. I look forward to this discussion." > >"I totally agree. I think there is only so much we can do to tailor treatment with the limited resources we have. Also, it is not easy to get simple things like shower chairs without a fight. I also think we should all discuss some ideas at the next meeting." > >Arley Johnson MS, OTR/L > > > > > >The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. 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