Home Visits

Home visits are different. Home visits are unique. Home visits aren’t awkward. Home visits give the therapist a lot of information about the level of stimulation the child is exposed to and what sort of environment they are developing in.

It is pretty eye-opening going into a client’s home to see how they live. I like it for the kids because I think it’s a great way to get them to be more comfortable with the idea of physiotherapy. They are in their home, a familiar environment. And just like the crayfish I studied in Biol 345 lab, they have the home field advantage. Which is good, since as a therapist you have at least 20 years and a degree or two (not including the kindergarten diploma on them). Sure the kid would eventually get used to the centre and coming into visit and there are a lot more variety of tools available at the centre, but the child is pretty comfortable right away. Case in point: a client was showing me off his entire car collection and all of his favorite toys right within 5 minutes. I could see this being a bad thing if they started to domineer the environment, in that case it might be good to get them in the centre and on your turf to be in more control of the situation, but I feel like this can be avoided with routine and parental support.

Speaking of parents it is also really convenient for them, especially in the rural areas of the south Okanagan Valley to be able to be seen at home. Instead of 5 families making 5 separate trips to the centre in Penticton, 1 therapist travels to somewhere like Oliver for the day to visit those 5 clients. And in some cases therapists from separate disciplines can travel together to see the same clients at the same time if they are both administering therapy to her.

Home visits also let the therapist into the world of the client. They show the therapist if the client is being under-stimulated or what types of treatments the family would be able to support for the client. I think this is really important as it helps the therapist give meaningful interventions for the family that they are able to do in the home. For example, if you go into a home where there are not a lot of stimulating toys for a child to play with you can lend them toys from the centre or suggest to the parent what sorts of toys would be good to look out for at the second hand stores.

I have also enjoyed home visits for selfish reasons! At one client’s home I have been going to on a weekly basis his grandma has been making Indian tea for me. It’s pretty yummy. It’s not that I expect to get this sort of treatment when I go into everyone’s home but it’s nice to experience the culture of the clients that you are visiting with.  Also today the little girl I saw gave me a tomato plant that she was growing.  Not to get all sappy or anything, but it’s really touching to see how much some of the kids look forward to your visits. Last week one of my clients was noticeably sad that I was leaving. He talked me all the way to the door and continued carrying on the conversation as I was loading up the vehicle and getting ready to turn the ignition. It’s gratifying as a physiotherapist to see that the work that you are doing is having an impact and is something that they have fun doing.