Occupational therapy students reduce wait times for kids
Two Western occupational therapy students built Thames Valley Children’s Centre’s first student-led clinic and assessed more than 23 waiting families in two months.
Holly Tang and Annie Bird were finishing Western’s master of occupational therapy program when they were placed at Thames Valley Children’s Centre (TVCC), where families faced long waits for a first assessment. Occupational therapist Laura Van Daele, who had worked with Western students before, asked them to help find a solution.
Together they built the Fine Motor and Written Output Clinic, TVCC’s first student-led clinic. It served children needing help with skills such as grip strength and hand control, which affect handwriting, buttons and opening containers.
Within two months, Tang and Bird met, assessed and made individual recommendations for more than 23 families and supported them with next steps. Tang says the work also moves other children up the wait list.
Van Daele hopes to use similar models for more student-led initiatives across TVCC. Tang and Bird were set to graduate this fall.
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