Occupational Therapy Case Study

Description of intervention sessions

The Occupational Therapy Fast Track Protocol form guided Ms. Casey’s intervention throughout her stay in hospital, as it provided a checklist of tasks to be carried out by the OT student with Ms. Casey to make sure that all OT goals had been achieved upon discharge, and to ensure that she had no additional OT needs when returning home.

Day 1:
On day 1 post surgery, The OT and OT student visited Ms. Casey, and reminded her of the role of OT and how the fast track protocol would guide her intervention over the coming 3 days. Consent to treat Ms. Casey was verbally obtained by the OT student. Firstly, a second initial interview was carried out. Once the interview was complete, Ms. Casey was reminded of her
Casey to carry out a PADL assessment and dressing practice with the use of dressing aids. However, on arrival, Ms. Casey was receiving a blood transfusion, which was required as a result of a postoperative decrease in her haemoglobin levels due to blood loss during surgery (Mahadevan, Challand and Keenan, 2010). At this point, the OT student liaised with Ms. Casey’s nurse to discuss the duration of her blood transfusion and when Ms. Casey would be fit for therapy. The session was then rescheduled with Ms. Casey for the afternoon, when she would be medically fit for her PADL assessment and dressing practice. This is a common problem in older THR patients, as old age is associated with increased transfusion rates (Mahadevan, Challand and Keenan, 2010). Upon returning to Ms. Casey once her transfusion was complete, the OT student liaised again with her nurse to make sure she was fit to treat. At this point the OT student proceeded to carry out dressing practice. The rehabilitative FoR was used here, as the OT student taught Ms. Casey compensatory strategies for dressing the lower body using adaptive aids. Firstly, the OT student demonstrated the use of the pick up stick, shoe horn and stocking aid to Ms. Casey. Once Ms. Casey was happy with the dressing aid demonstration and how they enable THR patients to dress without breaking hip precautions, the OT student proceeded to set up the environment for Ms. Casey’s PADL
Casey. The OT student was also required to demonstrate the car transfer Ms. Casey, to enable her to transfer safely in and out of the car following discharge (Gillen et al., 2007). At this point in Ms. Casey’s intervention, the OT student was informed that Ms. Casey’s length of hospitalization had been prolonged due to her blood transfusion the previous day, which is common in older adults (Husted, Holm and Jacobsen, 2008). Although Ms. Casey reported feeling tired and weak, she was motivated to engage in the OT session. After the OT student demonstrated the correct way to transfer on and off a chair and in and out of bed while following hip precautions, Ms. Casey was instructed to carry out the transfers herself. Ms. Casey was independent with all transfers and required no assistance, demonstrating an awareness of her hip precautions throughout. Once the OT student was happy with bed and chair transfers, the car transfer was demonstrated to Ms. Casey, which addressed Ms. Casey’s goal of being able to get in and out of the car without any assistance. Once Ms. Casey was happy with the demonstration, the OT student carried out more dressing practice with Ms. Casey’s aids to ensure that her goal to become independent with dressing was achieved. Once this session was complete, the OT student had observed an