Primary Care Occupational Therapy: A Quick Reference Guide

Healthcare is shifting towards a holistic, whole person approach to improve population health, decrease cost of care, and improve patient, and provider experiences. To achieve this, the primary care sector is adopting an integrated, interprofessional care team model which addresses both biomedical and behavioral health, and includes preventative care, population health management, technology, and innovative strategies to increase access to care. Occupational therapy (OT) is uniquely positioned to add their distinct whole person mental/behavioral health and medical care scope and skill to these teams to address patient needs. As this is an emerging practice area for OT, and no guidelines specific to primary care exist, this book will be a first of its kind text for occupational therapy practitioners (OTP) in primary care settings.

As OTPs work with habits, roles, and routines that affect health, OT in primary care promotes health and improves patient self-management of medical conditions and lifestyles, reducing patient dependence on costly health care services. This timely clinical manual guides best practices for primary care OT. It helps OTPs fit into the quick paced primary care practice model. In traditional OT settings, intervention sessions are longer, and focus on acute rehabilitation or mental/behavioral health conditions. In primary care, visits are brief, and address patient needs in the context of their presenting issue. No other published guide meets the unique needs of this emerging practice area.

Authors provide administrative information specific to OT in primary care, and interventions for specific health conditions, including chronic conditions, common to this setting. Written by experts in the field, Primary Care Occupational Therapy is the definitive resource for all primary care OTPs or those interested in lifestyle-based interventions for conditions frequently seen in primary care. It is also a useful guide for behavioral health care providers and administrators of general medical practices.