Thank you for your interest in Island Occupational Therapy Services as your health care partner.
We are caring and committed in our service, support, and education of you and your family or clients. Our practice is based upon biological, research, and medical knowledge, and is dedicated to providing the best occupational therapy services and treatment to our clients. By choosing our practice we believe that you are making a commitment to furthering your understanding of functional neurology, neurodevelopmental processes, and sensorimotor function; and through this personal commitment you will enhance the health and well-being of your family.
At Island Occupational Therapy Services we embrace a philosophy of practice that is holistic, community-based, guided by Dr. Struthers experiential history, and practiced and developed as part of intentional community building in many other places. This philosophy is probably most fully developed and expressed by the Gesundheit Institute, and we encourage our friends and clients to learn more about holistic, community based health practices model by visiting the Gesundheit Institute Web site (http://www.patchadams.org/about_gesundheit/mission_vision.htm).
Dr. Struthers experience in the health sciences field includes work as a medical assistant in a women’s health cooperative from 1979 to 1985, apprenticeship with a New Mexico licensed lay-midwife in the Mexican-American borderlands during 1986-1989, mentorships under curanderas y espiritualistas 1986-1996, training in archival research and biological/ medical anthropology at The Colorado College, a earned doctorate in Behavioral Biology and Animal Science in 1992, research scientist and director of Behavioral Sciences at the NMSU Primate Research Institute and the White Sands Foundation for pharmacological and toxicological research from 1987–1997.
At Island Occupational Therapy Services we strive to provide an integrated and holistic approach toward health and healing based on sound biological principles and individual self-determination. We use an evidence-based approach to developmental support, combined with a socially flexible and supportive environment. Our formula for practice may be somewhat different from the system of health care services that you have become familiar with, we urge you to read our introduction information and decide if you will be comfortable with our services based on this model of health care delivery.
At Island Occupational Therapy Services (IOTS) while we have created an open approach to service and have adapted many principles from the Gesundheit Institute, and similar community-based health providers, we strive to integrate those principles with the pragmatic concerns of State and Federal guidelines and the demands of a business entity.
We would like our clients to feel relaxed, confident and secure in the environment and with the quality of service you will receive with us. We would like you to understand our perspective on the following aspects of health care as we have developed it from experience and the model provided by other holistic and community based health care services.
Payment: IOTS accepts most third party payors, but not all. We accept DSHS. We accept cash/ private pay for services. We have an adjusted rate for persons who are using cash/ private pay and feel financially challenged. Please ask about the adjusted rate if you think you may qualify. Laws and regulations do not allow us to participate in “barter” arrangements.
Service: “Service is a physical expression of thanks to the world…[ Gesundheit Institute]” At IOTS our primary purpose is to serve the needs of families and children, we ask that our clients also participate in acts of service to others, and if you ask for suggestions about service activities related to clients of IOTS or to the local & regional community we will assist you in finding those opportunities.
Malpractice Insurance: IOTS is fully covered according to the standard guidelines governing therapy services. Gesundheit Institute philosophy emphasizes friendship, open communication, and trust to proactively address the fear and mistrust that often rule the malpractice issue. We work consistently to maintain a safe environment. We have very high expectations for our own competence to practice. Your main practitioner (Elaine) as well as the consulting therapists are all licensed, insured, and involved in ongoing research, publishing, and professional services and affiliation at the national and international level in our own respective areas of expertise. At IOTS we always want to know if you are in any way dissatisfied with your care or therapy.
House Calls & Home Visits: Modern allied health services in our culture emphasizes business efficiency, especially in light of third-party payor systems, this often means less time spent by the practitioner with clients. We favor a model that allows the nurturing of a more personal relationship between practitioner and client. “A person’s home is as unique as his or her genetics…The physician [therapist] becomes more caring for patients…more relaxed in their company, more able to ask sensitive questions and confront painful issues. The doctor [therapist] becomes a person to the patient, perhaps even a friend… [Gesundheit Institute].” Occupational therapy is perhaps the single field of allied health care practice that is actually intended to occur in the home and community as the client and the therapist work together to design functional, meaningful, occupational activities
IOTS strives to find the ideal balance between business efficiency and excellent service by spending additional time to nurture a personal relationship with you and your family during your visits, using community/ neighborhood access as part of therapy, and by making home visits as needed or requested by you.
Confidentiality: IOTS complies with all State and Federal (HIPPA) guidelines governing your medical information. We will respect the wishes and individual boundaries of our clients regarding privacy while communicating to you our sense that openness can be an important part of a healthy life. We view our clients as a community of families and children with “special needs” or “uniquely abled persons.” We may ask your permission to share your story with other clients or members of the community in order to facilitate occupational therapy services. We may ask you to provide a written account, photos, video, or an evening discussion for other families and community members in order to foster the mutual interdependence that creates strong communities.
Gesundheit Institute philosophy states that “This surrendering of privacy is the cornerstone of friendship and an antidote to loneliness. Confidentiality has sound, firm roots in medicine, providing a large safety net so that patients can entrust their doctors with even the most private matters. Outside of a community context this might be useful, but within a community, confidentiality can create barriers. The overwhelming loneliness of modern society dictates that we try to break this shell of secrecy. We need to join hands and hearts, to value our vulnerabilities…”
Being an ideal patient: “…all health care practitioners are fallible and may make mistakes throughout their careers…there is a lot of pain in the healing arts. Many healers feel burned out, frustrated, angry, and depressed. Try to care for your caregivers…once you choose a caregiver, enter the relationship full of trust, excitement, openness, and friendliness. If a healer acts in a way that bothers you, speak up gently but firmly about your concerns. The first step toward being an ideal patient is to have a genuine, compassionate, loving, and joyous feeling for yourself…… [Gesundheit Institute]”
We welcome you to Island Occupational Therapy and we welcome a forthright dialogue with you regarding the philosophy of health practice.
At Island Occupational Therapy Services Your occupational therapy records will generally contain most or all of the following materials:
- A screening and/or evaluation (unless otherwise provided by you)
- An initial video and video release form, with subsequent video follow-up
- A treatment plan
- Daily progress notes / goal sheet
- A 3 to 6 month re-evaluation
- A discharge summary
- Other documents as necessary
Additional materials and services are available from Island Occupational Therapy in the form of individual and environmental consultation, educational workshops, lectures, and seminars, mentorships and intern experiences by arrangement, written case reports, home rehabilitation plans and packages. We invite you to contact us with additional questions.
We sincerely look forward to working with you.
Elaine Jean Struthers, Ph.D., OTR/L
