Playful Palms Therapy : enhancing nature-based occupational therapy practice
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Background: Nature-based occupational therapy (OT) is an emerging practice that takes OT out of the clinical settings and into natural environments. It is holistic care focusing on improving a child's physical, mental, and emotional and social well-being by engaging with nature in meaningful ways that support their daily occupations. Playful Palms Therapy is a first-year private occupational therapy practice that provides nature-based OT. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement study is to identify systems, processes, and technologies to streamline day-to-day activities within a non-traditional small private occupational therapy practice. The goal is to provide high quality nature-based occupational therapy services that help children improve their well-being and independence in their daily occupations. Methods: This quality improvement study utilized mixed methods design over a 14-week period. The initial evaluation involved skilled observation, process mapping, a comprehensive SWOT analysis, and a collaborative discussion with the primary therapist, Katie Hansen. Following this assessment, a brainstorming session, informed by evidence-based research was conducted to identify effective solutions, technologies, and streamlined systems to enhance the effectiveness of daily workflow. Both a midpoint and post capstone survey were administered to the, Katie Hansen, to gather feedback on the interventions implemented. Results: Five primary areas of concern were identified: general daily systems, community relationships, resources, programing, and communication and marketing. Each area was addressed with specific projects and action steps to implement evidence-based systems. The results demonstrated a consistent trend of 'very satisfied' responses in all areas of concern regarding the effectiveness of the newly implemented systems. Conclusion: The aim of this project was to optimize daily operations by implementing systems, processes, and technologies to enhance nature-based occupational therapy services for children. The survey responses indicated a strong alignment between the new systems and improvement in the daily operations, significantly benefiting PPT. This quality improvement study highlighted how such implementations can enhance the quality, efficiency, and growth of a private OT practice, providing PPT with valuable opportunities for growth.
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