“As a community occupational therapist, my role is to help clients maintain independence while living at home through providing fall prevention strategies, mobility assessments and equipment recommendations.
During this time, many of my clients are declining visits due to fear of COVID-19 transmission, leaving them more vulnerable to falls and recurring ER visits or hospitalization.
I am worried about the well-being of my clients (mainly seniors). It is difficult to know how to balance between potentially putting my client’s and my own health at risk, while prioritizing who urgently needs services at this time. PPE is being redirected to hospitals from the community, meaning myself and my community healthcare colleagues are being asked to reuse our PPE until they are essentially soiled.
I have multiple clients who are currently struggling to do laundry, since many community services have been put on hold to to minimize COVID-19 risks and laundry is not considered an essential service.
As the isolation measures continue, it makes me realize where gaps exist – like the importance of self-care and how it impacts the physical and mental well being of my clients.”
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