Developing a clinically relevant ‘toolbox’ – reflections on hand therapy education for rural and remote Occupational Therapists
Heather Gale-MacLaren1, Judith Elliott1, Sharyn Kerr1, Dana Parkin1, Clare Fortescue1 1Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia
Abstract
Telehealth opportunities have been instrumental in transforming care for patients who live in rural and remote Western Australia. In 2007 Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) Plastic Surgery began running multidisciplinary Telehealth clinics as part of the Outpatient Reform Initiative. The service supports local area treatment and provides Plastic Surgery outpatients with an alternative to returning to Perth for follow-up.
In conjunction with this, a process of up-skilling rural and remote Occupational Therapists (OT) in hand therapy assessment and treatment techniques was also begun. This developed into a structured hand therapy education course uniquely suited to generalist rural clinicians. With an intent to develop a relevant ‘toolbox’ of skills and resources, the educational goals aimed to improve OTs’ knowledge and hand-therapy specific skills, and to increase the availability of local expertise in rural and remote communities.
Since its inception, the hand therapy education course has run continuously for 15 years and been attended by over 100 clinicians from across Western Australia. Course content focuses on building evidence-based relevant skills in the areas of anatomy and biomechanics, assessment, splinting, and current treatment modalities.
Positive feedback from attendees reiterates the value of all aspects of the hand therapy education for rural OTs to support their clinical practice. Whilst highlighting the continuing success and achievements of the OT hand therapy education programme educators seek to remain relevant in clinically demanding settings, and raise the question, “Where to from here?”
Biography
Heather initially gained a Bachelor degree of Science in Occupational Therapy and later completed a Master of Health Professional Education. She has extensive clinical experience in public, private and non-government settings. Heather’s professional interests include holistic healthcare for patients, mentoring clinicians, innovative system efficiencies and Telehealth. Heather has spent time living and working in the northwest of WA, becoming an ‘end-user’ of the Telehealth services she helped to establish for RPH Plastic Surgery and gained a greater appreciation of their importance in rural health.