One major area of focus for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Homeless Programs Office (HPO) in its 2021-2025 strategic plan is to “enhance targeted services to address the needs of high-acuity and vulnerable populations (e.g., Veterans who are older, have a history of opioid misuse, or at risk for suicide)” (2022). Embedding occupational therapy (OT) within community-based VA programs is a promising strategy to improve health outcomes, prolong quality of life, and facilitate aging in place for aging and disabled Veterans. OT practitioners help people do the activities that are important and meaningful to them—including both occupations that they want to do (e.g., leisure or social engagement) and that they need to do (e.g., medication and financial management, or bathing). For community-dwelling older adults, research shows that OT is effective in reducing fall risk, improving occupational performance and quality of life, improving leisure engagement, and—as a part of multidisciplinary interventions—contributing to sustained improvement in the performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). At an average of 0.4 per medical center, OT is still rare within HUD-VASH teams, but growing, with the number of funded positions rising by 14% and vacancy rates dropping by 28% between 2020 and 2022. As we work to promote the inclusion and well-being of aging and disabled Veterans, it is critical to define the OT role and procedures to take full advantage of the benefits the discipline can bring to a community-based setting. This recorded knowledge-based presentation will detail lessons from a project to standardize OT intake screening, referral and workload capture within HUD-VASH. Applications to other community-based settings with growing OT populations—such as Home Based Primary Care and Intensive Community Mental Health Recovery—will be discussed.
- Provider:Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
- Start Date: 2023-11-01 05:00:00
- End Date: 2023-11-01 05:00:00
- Credit Details: Dentistry: 1.0 hours
Dietetic CPEUs: 1.0 hours
Pharmacy: 1.0 hours - Commercial Support: No
- Activity Type: Enduring Material
- CME Finder Type: Online Learning
- Measured Outcome: Community/Population Health, Learner Knowledge, Learner/Team Competence, Learner/Team Performance, Patient Health
- Provider Ship: Directly Provided
- Registration: Open to all