E-health supported occupational therapy in geriatric rehabilitation

The best place to rehabilitate is at home, where patients carry out their daily activities and preferably want to live as long as possible. E-health solutions can help with this. An occupational therapist can, for example, use activity sensors and online coaching, via video calling, to support rehabilitators remotely with occupational therapy.

For the occupational therapist, combining e-health solutions with physical home visits means that they have more time for other tasks. Think of coordinating rehabilitation with the district nurses and GP involved or developing a program of requirements for a facility in the home. In addition, it has been known for some time that, partly due to the aging population and the need to langer to continue living at home, the demand for care will continue to rise in the coming years.

Hybrid occupational therapy

In the project (Cost)effectiveness of Occupational Therapy at Home E-Rehabilitation (OTHER) for persons post-stroke research is being conducted into home monitoring and e-health use in the rehabilitation of patients affected by a stroke. In particular, the question whether occupational therapy at home with activity monitoring and (online) coaching leads to an improvement in the performance of daily activities and self-management at home.

The project, led by senior researcher Ergotherapy – Participation Margriet Pol, is being carried out by Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with Amsterdam UMC, Radboudumc, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, experiential experts and Ergotherapie Nederland.

“An occupational therapist is an expert in making daily activities possible and shapes the occupational therapy process together with the rehabilitator. We know that ‘doing’, performing daily activities, is important for health and well-being. We are often not aware of this because they are often activities that we do not think about, that we take for granted that we do not think about it, such as dressing yourself, doing the shopping, cooking a meal or riding a bicycle. steps to visit a good friend,” says Margriet.

Daily operations

For patients affected by a stroke, performing daily activities is often far from self-evident. In those cases, the occupational therapist, together with the rehabilitator, examines what options there are to resume, adjust, examine or practice those activities at home.

According to Margriet, the question of whether the elderly are prepared to use technology such as e-health is a long one. “Previous research among older people after a hip fracture, in which we have used e-health, has shown that many older people can and want to use the technology. Especially if it allows them to stay at home longer. It is important that as an occupational therapist you inform and advise people on how the technology supports them. If people understand why they are going to use technology, they are more likely to accept and use it,” said the senior researcher.

Innovating geriatric rehabilitation

Margriet has set herself the goal of innovating geriatric rehabilitation in the coming years. An important role is reserved for e-health solutions such as activity monitoring and video calling. She wants to ensure that occupational therapists are given the tools to integrate these resources into their working methods. “With this I hope that rehabilitators can go home faster with discharge and can rehabilitate at home with the right support from e-health and continue to live and participate in their own environment for as long as possible.”

“The use of technology does require new competencies from occupational therapists because you start working in a different way. I expect that through the collaboration within this project with various care organizations and with colleges with an occupational therapy training, future occupational therapists will already learn to work with e-health during their training and that occupational therapists throughout the Netherlands will acquire more and more skills to apply this new method of rehabilitation. fit”, concludes Margriet.