Occupational Therapists work in different settings, including hospitals, community care, schools, local community services, universities and charities.
Occupational Therapists in Community Care work with you to help you carry out daily activities at home, safely and independently. Our goal is to help you achieve as much as you can for yourself.
If you're worried that you are not coping, we can help you to learn new ways of doing a particular task you find difficult to make easier. Sometimes we provide equipment that is specially designed to tackle practical problems, or we might suggest adaptations to your home.
We help you and your carer with day to day activities that most of us take for granted including
- Getting in/out and around your home
- Domestic activities such as cooking, eating and cleaning
- Personal care such as washing, toileting and dressing
- We can also help to make it easier for you to care for someone at home with a disability, for example getting them in and out of bed, or helping them to move around the home.
Our service helps disabled adults, people with sensory impairment, older people and their carers.
You can directly refer yourself if you have needs. Or with their permission you can refer a family member, friend or neighbour who you think would benefit from advice and help to improve their independence and safety at home.
We want to offer support to as many people as possible, but because resources are limited we have to make sure that our services go to those who need it most. We work to the Council's Fair Access to Care eligibility criteria for deciding who gets services. You can find out more about this in our Fair Access to Care (FACS) information sheet. Whether you qualify for a service will depend on your level of need and your circumstances.
If you would like help from us, you will need to have an assessment. We aim to see people making a new referral within 28 days but due to the high demand for our service we are not always able to meet this target so there is a waiting list. For more information on assessments, visit our webpage on Assessments by clicking the appropriate link in the 'More in this topic' box in the top, right-hand corner of this page.
You can also contact Customer Services on 01454 868007 - a customer services officer will take details of your enquiry and will talk to you about how we can help. If appropriate a member of the Occupational Therapy Team will visit you at home to assess your needs
Other support
You can also get help with repairs and adaptations to your home from Care and Repair South Gloucestershire.
If you are buying your own equipment, you can find helpful information from the Living Centre - visit their website for more information (see 'Other websites' on the right-hand side of this page).