ACCIDENT VICTIM SUPPORT AND REHABILITATION EQUIPMENT |
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Accident victim support and rehabilitation equipment needed after a serious accident, the occupational therapists rehabilitation report should include the following
Housing recommendations for manual wheelchair users. Suppliers. Authors professional qualifications and experience. Principles on which assessment is based. Purpose of Report. This is usually a short explanation outlining what the report will deal with. Instructions received. These will outline who is commissioning the report ie your solicitor or as a joint report for both parties. The letter of instruction will detail the areas that should be examined and reported on. Note that this could be very important. The expert should only report as requested in their commissioning instructions. There could be a tendency to write outside these parameters which might not be in your interests. For example an Occupational Therapist could get it into her brain that the house you had moved into post accident was more than adequate for your needs when every other expert recommends an extension to be built for a disabled friendly bedroom and ensuite bathroom facility. Consequently the comments by the O.T regarding housing in her report could be counter productive. These comments could be coming from your own Occupational Therapist expert! You do not have much control over what is written in the letter of instruction. Essential Information for Readers of the Report. Read this part of the report carefully. It could be written in some other way. This section essentially deals with how the Occupational Therapist professionally covers her back over some aspects of professional misconduct. For example by stating that any manufacturer or supplier are not being endorsed by the Occupational Therapist Other aspects that may be of some use to you when arguing for items of equipment that you have bought but which are not mentioned in the report are statements like, "should not be regarded as prescriptive, but as sound examples of the type and cost of equipment needed to minimise the difficulties of the claimant or carer." Note you can vary the type of equipment that you buy. Also note the equipment bought minimises difficulties for you or your carer. There may be some areas that you have not even considered eg inflation, statutory benefits and statutory provision of services. Overall in any Rehabilitation Report be aware of the "covering of their back section," because it may restrict you in your purchases. Introductory Information. This will be a summary of your personal details, injuries and how the personal details has been obtained. These more than likely will have been obtained through a personal interview with you and your family. It could also include any expert reports that are relevant and that have been either a joint report or one that your expert has been allowed to see by your solicitor. This section may highlight some complicating factors in your life eg childcare problems or your wife's work commitments. You may have a report that will comment on your housing needs. Your present accommodation can be quickly assessed and factors such as no circulation space for a wheelchair, no downstairs toilet and door widths can be seen. Unless you are someone that has independent means and already live in a suitably sized house, then the vast majority of people will fall into the category which will state that the current accommodation is too small for a disabled life style in your current condition. This is the position in a report you should be happy with as a move to more suitably sized accommodation is almost certain to put a significant sum of money onto your claim. The only reservation being, is comments from an OT what you need on the housing issue? A general comment might be appropriate to strengthen the need for a Housing expert to be appointed. Changes to you occupational status will also have an impact on your case and might be referred to in this section. Pre accident and post accident leisure activities should be listed. Remember your aim is to regain all your pre accident life activities as far is possible. The Occupational Therapist should be focused into how this can be achieved. It will mean purchase of equipment and services to counter the effects of your disability. Disability equipment and assessment of impairment
Accident victim support and rehabilitation |
Accident victim equipment |
Disability equipment assessment
Occupational health report | Disability - wheelchairs | Disability victim assessment Health and fitness after an accident | Mobility and physiotherapy | Injury victim expenses and medication Accident victim support |