#OTalk – 10th February 2015 – Dementia

This #OTalk will be co-hosted by @katrinabannigan, Associate Professor (Reader) of Occupational Therapy at Plymouth University and @PlymouthOT, Emma Kirk, PhD Student, Plymouth University.

The Institute of Health and Community at Plymouth University #IHCPlymouth has organised a series of evening lectures focussed on dementia looking towards co-ordinated social and health care. The lectures start on 10^th February 2015 with two lectures on Models of dementia care by Dr Jos de Blok, Executive Director and Founder of Buurtzorg Netherlands. This seemed like an ideal backdrop to an #OTalk because #Buurtzorg, the model of care developed by Jos sounds like it would appeal to occupational therapists

Why not join in the #OTalk and share your views? If you are based in the South West you may wish to consider signing up for the whole lecture series. More details can be found here:

https://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/research/ihc/Pages/IHC-SeminarSeries.aspx

You can book a place by emailing: dementiaseminar@plymouth.ac.uk

What is Buurtzorg?

If like us you have never heard of Buurtzorg it is a model founded in the Netherlands. (It has been applied in other countries as well such as the US). It is a grassroots movement that started with a small group of professional nurses who were dissatisfied with the delivery of health care by traditional home care organizations in the Netherlands. Together they decided to create a new model of patient centred care focused on facilitating and maintaining independence and autonomy for the individual for as long as possible. It is organised with

Optimal autonomy and no hierarchy
Complexity reduction (also with the use of ICT)
Max of 12 nurses a team, 40 à 50 clients
Assessment and taking care of all types of clients: generalists!
70% registered nurses
Their own education budget
Informal networks in the neighbourhood and close collaboration with GP’s

Read more at

More about @PlymouthOT

@PlymouthOT is the Twitter name for Emma Kirk who has just started a full time PhD studentship exploring Occupational Therapy interventions in dementia care. The studentship is funded through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South West Peninsula (PenCLAHRC) and is one of four PhD studentships within the new multi-disciplinary dementia care research programme. The programme aims to develop and test interventions that promote independent living for people with a dementia or support people with their transition into supported living in a coordinated and compassionate way.

Chat Questions:

1. Does anyone here have experience of the Buurtzorg model?
2. Do you think the Buurtzorg model has resonance with occupational therapy?
3. Could regular, skilled occupational therapy provide better, more cost-effective, outcomes than domiciliary care packages for people with a dementia?
4. What can Occupational Therapists learn from grassroots innovation like Buurtzorg?

Thank you to everyone who participated in the chat.