Occupational Therapy

What we do

Assess your own and your carer/s difficulties with everyday living tasks such as getting in and out of a chair or on and off the toilet.  

• Give advice on alternative methods of managing those activities.

• Advise carers on moving and handling techniques, eg to assist someone to get in and out of bed.  

• Loan essential items of equipment to help with day-to-day tasks more easily. The Community Equipment Service supplies, delivers, collects and recycles equipment on our behalf. We can also provide equipment under the direct payment scheme. Instead of loaning you equipment, we give you a cash payment to buy the same equipment yourself.

• Help with minor adaptations to your home such as a grab rail by the toilet or an additional stair rail.

We may also:

• Make recommendations to the Housing Services for a Disabled Facilities Grant.  A grant can be considered for appropriate adaptations to your property, such as a level access shower or stairlift.  These grants are means tested.

• Liaise with other people involved in your care such as social workers and health staff.

• Make referrals to other agencies.

If you need:-

•  A wheelchair or walking aid please contact your GP;

• Pressure mattress or specialist nursing equipment, please contact your District Nurse.

• Medical equipment (i.e. a commode, wheelchair) whilst a relative comes to stay, or for a short period of time while recuperating from an illness or operation, contact the Red Cross

• Useful hints and tips about ways to make your life easier, details of products that might help you, and where you can obtain them, an online self-assessment tool, SARA, has been developed by the Disabled Living Foundation, which is a national charity. This asks you a range of questions about yourself and your environment.