occupational-therapy-handover-briefing

Handover Briefing — Occupational Therapy

Hand over people whose illness or disability affects daily activities or active work to another professional without losing critical detail. The deliverable is a structured handover brief covering status, risks and next actions. This skill is written for a occupational therapist working with people whose illness or disability affects daily activities in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes.

When to use

• You are a occupational therapist preparing, delivering or reviewing this part of your work in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes.
• You need a defensible, repeatable approach that produces a structured handover brief covering status, risks and next actions.
• A colleague, auditor or client asks how this was done and what evidence supports it.

Key Concepts

Term	Meaning
Activities of daily living	everyday tasks such as washing, dressing and eating
Adaptation	changing a task or environment to make it achievable
Splinting	using a support to position or rest a body part

Workflow

1. Step 1 - Summarise the current position from functional assessments: what is done, what is in progress, what is waiting
2. Step 2 - Highlight live risks first — unsafe discharge home — and the controls or watchpoints already in place
3. Step 3 - State the next actions with owners and deadlines, and the results expected for assessment-to-discharge timeliness
4. Step 4 - Walk the receiving professional through the brief, answer questions, and confirm understanding
5. Step 5 - Record that handover happened, who accepted it, and where the full record lives in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes

Profession-Specific Components

Component	Details for Occupational Therapy
Core documentation	functional assessments; activity analyses; equipment assessments; discharge plans
Core tools & equipment	adapted equipment; assessment kitchens; splinting materials; wheelchairs
People involved	people whose illness or disability affects daily activities; the occupational therapist; colleagues and other services in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes
Primary record	functional assessments — keep it current, dated and attributable

Output Format

Context: [Situation in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes] | Objective: [What this must achieve] | Audience: [people whose illness or disability affects daily activities and other stakeholders]

The finished output is a structured handover brief covering status, risks and next actions, structured as:

1. Summary of position and evidence
2. Detail, following the workflow above
3. Decisions, actions, owners and dates
4. Review point and escalation route

Action Plan

1. Immediate: Confirm scope, consent and the evidence available in functional assessments.
2. Short-term: Complete the workflow steps and record outcomes against assessment-to-discharge timeliness.
3. Medium-term: Review results, close actions, and update local procedures in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes.

Success Metrics

Metric	Target	Method
assessment-to-discharge timeliness	Agree a local target and track the trend	Measured from functional assessments and reviewed on a set cycle
independence scores	Agree a local target and track the trend	Measured from functional assessments and reviewed on a set cycle
equipment provision rates	Agree a local target and track the trend	Measured from functional assessments and reviewed on a set cycle
goal attainment rates	Agree a local target and track the trend	Measured from functional assessments and reviewed on a set cycle

Guardrails & Quality Checks

• Never let this happen: unsafe discharge home.
• Never let this happen: equipment not fitted correctly.
• Never let this happen: falls after discharge.
• Work only within the competence and authority of a occupational therapist; escalate or refer anything beyond it.
• Record facts and observations, not speculation, and keep records confidential to hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes's rules.
• Verify names, dates, figures and measurements twice before anything is issued or signed off.
• Use only real, verified information from the case in hand — never invent results, credentials or evidence.

Example (illustrative)

A occupational therapist in hospital wards, rehabilitation units and homes applies this workflow for people whose illness or disability affects daily activities: they open functional assessments, work through the five steps using adapted equipment, and close by recording the outcome against assessment-to-discharge timeliness and agreeing the next review date. (Illustrative example only — replace with the real details of the case in hand.)