Assistance advice in your own home
If you are finding it difficult to carry out activities of daily living (cooking, dressing, toileting, bathing etc) in your home or activities in the community due to physical difficulties, occupational therapy may be able to assist you.
What is occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy aims to find ways to support you so that you can live independently in your own home. Initially we would look at ways to increase your independence through rehabilitation techniques and practicing how to carry out tasks in a different way it might also include identifying a more suitable layout or simply finding new ways to manage these tasks.
Once we have explored these options and if you still require support to carry out tasks we would look at equipment and adaptations to enable independence at home. e.g. equipment to help with bathing or showering ,a ramp to access your home, grab rails for extra support or where you are no longer able to manage these tasks with equipment we may look at installing an accessible shower or Stairlift). The exact specification will depend on your needs and your property type and landlord arrangements.
Assessment and eligibility for occupational therapy services
The Occupational Therapy Service is available to people of all ages, from birth to end of life and for those people living in East Lothian. We use assessments to make sure our recommendations are appropriate, will address your needs and meet our eligibility criteria.
We have a team of senior practitioners who are available to take calls Monday to Friday to discuss concerns or difficulties you may be having at home.
The Senior Occupational Therapist will listen to your concerns and discuss what is important for you to be able to achieve (being able to wash and dress yourself so you can get out to work or go to the shops for example) and explore options and solutions with you. Once this telephone triage has taken place the Occupational Therapist in discussion with yourself will agree on the best place for assessment to take place.
We offer a variety of appointment types:
- Clinic appointments in Tranent and Dunbar – an experienced Occupational Therapist will assess your needs in a specially designed flat where equipment and solutions can be trialled and discussed
- Near Me - these are NHS linked video assessments and may be the preferred method of assessment depending on your needs
- Home visits for those who cannot be seen remotely or in a clinic environment or those who have complex needs that need to be assessed within a home environment
- We may also need to see you with other professionals e.g. Social Workers or Physiotherapists but this will be discussed at the point of referral
How much will it cost?
If you are a council or housing association tenant in East Lothian, there will be no charge for this service.
If you own your own home, we can provide many of the services free of charge. However major adaptations, such as a ramp or level access shower, could incur a contribution. This will depend on the outcome of a financial assessment for a Housing Improvement Grant. We will advise you of this following your assessment.
Contact the Occupational Therapy team
Select option 2 for all requests for Occupational Therapy intervention.