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Sammanfattning

Occupational therapy is well-established in intensive care units, but experience shows that it is often restricted to assessment of the ability to eat and drink. In 2012, the project "Activity-based occupational therapy for intensive-care patients" was started up at Horsens Hospital Unit. The results of the project were greatly increased resource-efficiency, as the nurse and occupational therapist now work as a team on day-to-day activities. The occupational therapist's special competencies lie in an activity-based perspective focusing on the patient's everyday life. The intensive-care team coaches the patient to be as active as possible to speed up recovery and convalescence. The project found that the patient is often capable of far more than staff assume. The majority of patients are keen to engage actively in the process and to regain their functioning. The training is therefore already fully underway when the patient is transferred to the referring unit. The transition from intensive care to the referring unit is eased by the patient visiting the referring unit and staff prior to transfer, and by the therapists following up the patient in the referring unit as far as possible.

MeSH