Occupational Therapists within Walsall Healthcare’s Intermediate Care Team work with physiotherapists, social workers, re-ablement staff and nurses.

They support the Rapid Response team, bed-based rehabilitation, hospital discharges and community rehabilitation.

Intermediate Care Therapy as a whole receives between 250 and 300 referrals each month and Occupational Therapists are involved in a large proportion of these referrals.

Louise Mobley, Community Therapy Lead for Intermediate Care said: “Our overall aim is to maximise independence and quality of life.

“The Occupational Therapists covering rapid response support the nursing team to help people avoid hospital admissions – this may include advice on manual handling techniques or the provision of equipment.

“Our bed-based Occupational therapists support patients in our rehab beds within nursing homes. This involves putting rehabilitation programmes together that support a return home for patients.

“Our holistic assessments look at how a person was managing their daily living activities prior to illness or hospital admission, what is important to them, their home environment and appropriate support networks.”

Louise added that Occupational Therapists look at a patient’s environment and advise on any adaptive equipment that they could make use of to maintain their independence and safety.

“They will also complete functional assessments to determine how someone is managing their personal care or managing to make meals and drinks.

“Occupational Therapy Week gives us all a chance to appreciate this role and reflect on the valuable contribution it makes towards people’s mental and physical wellbeing.”