A O TJ R E P O R T
Celebrating Rural Health Research in the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal Dr Nerida Hyett, Australian Occupational Therapy Journal Editorial Board Member Robyn Soulsby, Neurological Stream Leader, Outpatient Rehabilitation Services, Bendigo Health Siobhan Branagan, Occupational Therapist, Outpatient Rehabilitation Services, Bendigo Health Fay Wallis, Occupational Therapist, Senior Clinician, Community Allied Health Services, Bendigo Health
T
o celebrate the theme of ‘Regional, Rural and Remote’ we discussed an article from the Australian Occupational Therapy Journal to highlight the value of rural health research for occupational therapists. The article was selected from the journal’s Virtual Issue for the Virtual OT Exchange 2020 hosted by Occupational Therapy Australia. The Virtual Issue is a new initiative for events held in alternate years to the biennial national conference. The article by Pighills, Tynan, Furness, and Rawle (2019) was titled ‘Occupational therapist-led environmental assessment and modification to prevent falls: Review of current practice in an Australian rural health service’. I, Nerida, met with three occupational therapists from Bendigo Health who have experience in Environmental Assessment and Modifications (EAM) for falls prevention
to discuss how this research can inform practice. The following is a summary of our discussion highlighting their perspectives. Siobhan: I work across both the falls specialist assessment and generic rehabilitation clinics, which have different approaches to occupational therapist-led EAM. I read the article from this clinical perspective and reflected on my experience with a Knowledge Translation (KT) project with the Falls and Balance Assessment Clinic. Robyn: I read the article with two hats—as an occupational therapist and operational manager—and considered applications to practice from both perspectives. Fay: I read the article from the perspective of a senior clinician working in a multidisciplinary Community Allied Health Services team. We provide services under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme and our core business is to support people to remain living at home and prevent admission to residential care. Siobhan and Robyn: The article prompted us to reflect on the range of factors that support and hinder the conduct of evidence-based falls assessment across the continuum of care. In outpatient and community settings we have greater capacity to conduct home falls assessment (more time and fewer resource constraints). However, as highlighted in this research, there is variability in knowledge of EAM and falls prevention interventions. Evidencebased EAM was rarely reported in the study
setting and we reflected on the importance of therapists having a good understanding of falls assessment and prevention irrespective of setting in the continuum of care. This research made us reflect on how evidence-based EAM is supported at Bendigo Health through clinical supervision, professional development, a falls specific learning program for new staff in specialised roles, and ongoing quality improvement via KT and consumer engagement. Fay: Our service is more generalist, and while we are not a falls prevention service, the evidence is clear that falls prevention enables people to remain at home. Reading this article prompted me to reflect on how we conduct orientation and clinical supervision, and I reflected on how EAM fits within the occupational therapy practice process. The researchers discuss the role of the rural generalist occupational therapist which resonated with us. We discussed the differences between roles that require specialist falls knowledge in comparison with roles that require more generalist knowledge. Fay: At Bendigo Health, occupational therapists in outpatient and community settings often have more generalist roles, and falls prevention is part of the scope of practice, compared with our specialist Falls and Balance Assessment Clinic. Siobhan: For example, there is a difference between an occupational therapist’s EAM scope of practice working in a specialist falls assessment clinic compared to an orthopaedic rehabilitation clinic. CONNECTIONS SUMMER 2020 13
