Abstract
UW Medicine Valley Medical Center, Children’s Therapy (VMC-CT) has experienced difficulties with consistent service delivery schedules for their clients. Long waitlists, absences, and scheduling and insurance constraints have impeded client ability to receive standard, continuous therapy. Thus, this critically appraised topic (CAT) paper addresses a research question developed in conjunction with Kari Tanta, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, the Rehabilitation Manager at VMC-CT, to understand the most effective methods of service delivery: episodic therapy (i.e. high frequency over a short duration) or continuous therapy (i.e., low frequency over a longer duration). The following research question was developed: Is episodic pediatric care as effective as continuous care for children (birth to 21 years old) with orthopedic conditions or developmental delays? From a review of twenty articles and one master's thesis, it appears that this modest amount of evidence (most from children with cerebral palsy) is inconclusive regarding which service delivery model is more effective. Thus, therapists can feel confident that scheduling treatment around reasonable real-world constraints will still provide no less effective care for their clients.
Due to increased clinician concern regarding scheduling issues, Dr. Tanta felt that two knowledge translation activities would be appropriate: a concise handout outlining our CAT findings for use at a staff in-service, and a case study article from VMC-CT, combined with our CAT evidence, for dissemination to the greater clinician community. As a means of assessing the impact of this article, we will track how many times the article is accessed. Based on the results of this CAT paper, it is clear that future research should focus on a broader array of diagnoses, and clinics should seek to track outcomes after changes in service delivery.
Publication Place
Tacoma, Washington
Publisher
University of Puget Sound
Project Chairperson
George Tomlin, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Project Chairperson
Publication Date
5-2016
Genre
Capstone Project
Format
Language
English
Copyright Information
Terms of Use for work posted in Sound Ideas: http://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/copyright.html
Degree Program
Occupational Therapy
Degree Level
Master of Science
Discipline
Occupational Therapy
School
University of Puget Sound
Recommended Citation
Newman, Rebecca; McGarvey, Kimberly; and Hoppe, Laura, "Episodic versus Continuous Care in Outpatient Pediatric Clinics" (2016). School of Occupational Therapy Master's Capstone Projects (2016-2021). 6.
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/ot_capstone/6
Capstone Approval