Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong KY, Choi WY, Keung NY, Wong HC, Chin YM
Affiliation :
Occupational Therapy Department, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Introduction :
In the current workflow of the Occupational Therapy (OT) psychiatric outpatient unit and Common Mental Disorder Clinic (CMDC), both clinical staff and patients encounter significant challenges that hinder effective recovery. The referral process is often bogged down by time-consuming paperwork and communication issues, leading to delays in accessing essential community services. Patients face additional barriers, including logistical difficulties and limited understanding of how to navigate these systems, which can exacerbate their mental health conditions. To address these issues, a more streamlined and supportive pathway to community resources is crucial. The desired situation envisions seamless access to varied psychosocial interventions, fostering collaboration among service providers and empowering patients to actively engage in their recovery journey.
Objectives :
This study aims at evaluating the new working pathway on enhancing clients in engaging in community resources and facilitating continuity of care
Methodology :
To enhance service accessibility, integrated care team between OT and the Community and Patient Relations Department (C&PRD) was established. Joint workshop was implemented to empower clients in understanding and accessing community resources, followed by joining C&PRD directly after workshop. A streamlined referral process will enable OTs to directly refer suitable service users from the outpatient department and CMDC to C&PRD, reducing paperwork and delays. Additionally, we will expand telehealth options to provide virtual support services, facilitating access to resource workshops for patients facing mobility or transportation challenges. To evaluate the outcome, questionnaires were used to collect opinion from service user, while semi-structured interview was carried out to explore feedback from service providers.
Result & Outcome :
During 6-12/2024, 3 joint workshops were successfully held and 49 participants joined the program. Among these, 24 of them successfully joined C&PRD and 16 of them continued the psychosocial intervention in different community centers such as ICCMW. In the quantitative survey, 94.5% of participants strongly agreed that the new program could facilitate them to approach community resources, with 92.3% reported improved motivation to join community resources after the workshop, and 93.4% agreed that the new workflow enhanced their approach to C&PRC. Semi-structure interviews with a subset of staff (n=7) obtained qualitative data and several sub-themes were revealed to describe the factors that impacted staff’s experience, which are effective communication channel, better patient involvement in care, enhanced service accessibility and comprehended continuity of care
