To assist you to understand how On Track Occupational Therapy work with our clients in the three core areas of our business please enjoy reading the case studies below.
On Track to Health and Wellbeing
Karen was a 32 year old female working for a large corporate business in the CBD. Over a period of months Karen began to experience an onset of neck and right shoulder pain. Karen noted that her symptoms increased with prolonged computer based tasks. Karen advised her manager who then referred her for an Ergonomic Assessment with On Track Occupational Therapy.
The following was then completed by On Track Occupational Therapy:
- Attended the workplace to conduct an Ergonomic Assessment;
- Obtained a detailed history of the onset of symptoms and treatment to date;
- Assessed Karen’s workstation;
- Observed Karen completing her usual duties;
- Adjusted Karen’s workstation including raising her monitor, adjusting her chair and relocating frequently used items;
- Provided education including a demonstration and a checklist flyer on how to adjust her workstation independently in the event she moves desks or someone sits at her workstation;
- Provided Karen with education on behavioural changes including exercises, increasing movement at work during meetings, lunch breaks and standing when on phone calls;
- Arranged for trial of ergonomic equipment and completed a follow up visit to provide Karen with education on the correct use and position of the equipment.
- Following the trial of the equipment, On Track Occupational Therapy remained in contact with Karen to make sure that her symptoms had reduced.
- A report including the assessment findings and recommendations was completed and sent to Karen and her manager.
Karen reported significant reduction in her symptoms following the prescription of the ergonomic equipment and change in her work behaviours. Through early intervention her employer was able to assist Karen to remain at work, reduce her symptoms and prevent further injury or a submission of a WorkCover claim.
A large corporate organisation contacted On Track Occupational Therapy to assist them with their internal ergonomic assessments and injury prevention strategies. On Track Occupational Therapy met with the HR manager to develop a tailor made program with the focus on staff being accountable for their own workstation ergonomics.
On Track Occupational Therapy completed the following:
- Developed corporate, professional and easy to read ergonomic flyers that were placed at each employee’s workstation;
- Developed an interactive computer based checklist which prompted employees to make adjustments to their workstation. The tool was completed by employees to identify areas of concern and was then reviewed by HR and Management to determine if an expert external ergonomic assessment was deemed reasonable and necessary.
- Developed a cost effective package for 1/2 day or full day sessions where our expert Occupational Therapists would attend the office to conduct ergonomic assessments for a number of employees.
- Completed competency based Ergonomic Training for all new staff as part of their induction program and regular refresher training for all employees. This training included education and demonstration on adjusting their chairs, workstations and changing workplace behaviour to minimise sedentary positions. Staff members were then required to independently adjust their own workstation which was reviewed by the Occupational Therapist. The Occupational Therapist would then report to management to advise of the staff who demonstrated they had attended the training and were deemed competent in adjusting their workstation independently.
On Track to Independent Living
Joan was a 80 year old lady who was independently living at home alone. Joan was an active lady who enjoyed playing bowls with friends during the week. She was walking in a shopping centre car park when she was hit by a car reversing out of a park. Joan sustained multiple fractures in her left leg, lower back pain and lacerations to her elbows.
On Track Occupational Therapy provided the following intervention to assist Joan to return to independence in the home:
- A comprehensive Activities Daily Living Assessment was conducted with Joan and her daughter in her home;
- Her home rear access was modified to accommodate a frame to enable her to independently access the community;
- Quotes were arranged to provide short term care services to assist Joan with personal care tasks while she was non weight bearing and her left leg fractures were healing. Joan’s need for the services was regularly reviewed and a reduction of these services was recommended as Joan gradually increased her mobility and independence with the tasks;
- Equipment was provided to enable Joan to complete her personal care tasks safely while she was non weight bearing;
- A case conference was completed with her treating specialist and regular contact was made with her physiotherapist to discuss their treatment plan and her physical restrictions;
- An ADL Upgrade Program (a program which clearly outlines a number of stages to assist with guiding a person back to their tasks including community, domestic and personal activities of daily living tasks) was developed and endorsed by her treating practitioners. This assisted Joan to return to cleaning, cooking and personal care tasks. A referral was made to an expert exercise physiologist who was able to attend visits in Joan’s home to upgrade her capacity in line with On Track Occupational Therapy’s ADL upgrade program;
- Light-weight and long handled equipment including a vacuum, duster, kitchen stool, mop, laundry trolley and clothes airer was provided to increase her independence with tasks at home;
- Regular home visits were conducted to upgrade Joan with completing her cleaning, cooking and laundry tasks and provide her with education on self-pacing, task modification and manual handling techniques and falls prevention. Handouts were provided to assist Joan to recall the information provided by the OT;
- On Track OT also assisted Joan to return to regular sessions of bowling as this was her pre-accident leisure activity. Joan loved spending time with her friends at the bowling club and working toward this goal assisted her to improve her physical and psychological health and wellbeing.
John was a 53 year old male who was working full time as a computer technician. His duties at home included maintaing the lawns and garden areas. John was involved in a motor vehicle accident where he sustained soft tissue injuries to his lower back and whiplash injury to his neck.
On Track Occupational Therapy provided the following intervention to assist John to return to work and independence at home:
- A comprehensive Initial Needs and ADL Assessment was completed;
- A Workplace Assessment and liaison with John’s pre-accident employer was completed to assess John’s pre-accident duties, offer support to his employer and develop a proposed return to work plan for his treating practitioners to endorse a safe and timely return to work.
- A referral to an exercise based program rather than passive treatment was recommended to assist John to return to his pre-accident gardening activities and return to work;
- Education was provided to John on the management of whiplash injuries;
- A proposed ADL upgrade program and RTW program was developed and endorsed by his General Practitioner and exercise physiologist;
- Regular case conferences and liaison with his treating practitioners was completed to discuss his return to work, medical restrictions and ADL upgrade program;
- Lightweight equipment including a push start electric cordless lawn mower and long handled light weight gardening equipment was provided;
- A number of functional education sessions at John’s home were conducted to improve his technique when using the equipment. Handouts were provided to remind John of the training provided.
- An Ergonomic Assessment was completed once John was ready to return to work to provide advice and recommendations to manage his symptoms at work.
- John’s return to work and ADL upgrade program were monitored and he successfully returned to his pre-accident hours and duties and his home gardening tasks with the equipment and training provided.
On Track to Corporate Business Excellence and Compliance
A small rehabilitation provider was recently approved as an Accredited Rehabilitation Provider by HWCA and WorkCover NSW. As they were a small boutique provider, the Director of the business was unable to conduct his own yearly self -evaluations as he was providing services on a number of files and supervising contractors working on the files. On Track Occupational Therapy was therefore contacted to conduct their self-evaluation audit as an expert auditor.
On Track Occupational Therapy completed the following:
- A meeting was conducted with the Director and where the process of the audit/self-evaluation was explained. The Director was advised to have all documents and files ready for the audit;
- An opening meeting was conducted to advise of the auditing process and structure of the audit, requirements and closing meeting information;
- An onsite audit was conducted including review of policies and procedures, files audit and staff interviews;
- A comprehensive audit report was provided which included: an audit summary of each of the files audited (to enable the Director to provide feedback to each of the consultants working on the file) and an overall audit finding using the self-evaluation tool (which will include areas of conformance and non conformance and areas for improvement). An additional report that included preventative and corrective action plans to demonstrate how the business will improve their performance on key areas was also provided.
- A closing meeting was completed which involved a discussion around the results and areas of non conformance. On Track Occupational Therapy developed a strategic action plan with the Director which demonstrated to WorkCover how the business would improve the areas of non conformance and how they can monitor this improvement.
A boutique rehabilitation provider developed their policies and procedures a number of years ago when the business was very small. As their business was growing rapidly, they wanted to improve their policies and procedures to ensure that they continued to offer high quality rehabilitation services to their customers. They acknowledged that they did not have the time available to focus on this area of their business so they decided to engage an expert to assist them with this task . This company was also an Accredited Rehabilitation Provider and therefore they required an expert who understood the WorkCover NSW Principles of Rehabilitation and Conditions of Approval.
On Track Occupational Therapy completed the following:
- Met with Directors, staff and administration team to educate them on the WorkCover Principles of Rehabilitation and the Conditions of Approval to enable them to understand the purpose of developing clear policies and procedures that included a continuous improvement system;
- An audit was completed on their current policies and procedures against the WorkCover Principles of Rehabilitation to determine the areas of non conformance oand and suggestion for improvement;
- Clear and structured policies and procedures were developed in line with the business structure and time commitments and accreditation guidelines;
- The provider advised On Track Occupational Therapy that following the development of the policy and procedures they were involved in an external audit where feedback was provided that the policies and procedures “were the best they had ever seen” and the audit results were 98%.