Josh Laiken
Vancouver
Summary
Occupational Therapist with over 4 years of experience in multiple settings supporting service users to regain as much independence and optimal health outcomes as possible following injury, illness or surgery. Passionate about interdisciplinary working, and confident in navigating complex health and social situations while balancing a demanding caseload.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Occupational Therapist - Acute
Vancouver Coastal Health
North Vancouver, BC
01.2024 - Current
- Provide a client-centred occupational therapy service involving assessing occupational performance issues, evidence-based interventions and appropriately allocating acute and community resources to support discharges to clients admitted to Lions Gate Hospital
- Coordinate priorities, joint-working and advocate for occupational needs of clients within acute stakeholders including families, Physicians, Patient Care Coordinators, Transition Care Coordinators/Care Management Leaders and fellow Allied Health Professionals
- Predominately work within the General Surgery and Orthopedic wards while regularly covering Cardiology and General Medicine wards as well as the Emergency Department
- Navigate limited rehabilitation and community resources on weekly scheduled Saturday shifts, prioritizing assessments and discharges for the entire hospital including pre- and post-operative Collar fitting and education
Occupational Therapist - Long Term Care
Burke Village Medical
Duncan, BC
02.2024 - Current
- Provide specialist services to clients at Cerwydden Seniors Community including mobility and transfer assessments, specialist seating and wheelchair assessments, pressure care and falls assessments
- Chair a monthly falls meeting, independently tracking data related to client falls, utilizing equipment and adaptations and allocating staff resources to reduce and mitigate client falls
- Coordinate and provide staff in service training related to pressure care, falls prevention, manual handling and transferring
- Support clients to access funding and specialist equipment alongside local vendors
Occupational Therapist - Community
The City of Edinburgh Council
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
01.2021 - 12.2023
- Provide a short term comprehensive specialist service of assessment, diagnosis, treatment and onward referral and discharge to a complex range of up to 25 patients at a time referred to the service
- This includes Discharge to Assess (D2A) referrals from hospitals to ensure smooth transitions back into the community
- Referrals also include community Prevention of Admission (POA) referrals to organize and provide emergency care, equipment and rehabilitation to keep service users out of hospitals and reduce resource loads across the Health and Social Care Partnership
- Complete Manual Handling Risk Assessments and Manual Handling Plans to Care Organizations to ensure safe handling of patients
- Work autonomously both independently and directly with NHS Physiotherapists to complete joint initial assessment and review visits as well as direct interdisciplinary liaison with GPs, Care agencies, Social Workers, District Nurses and with other practitioners working in hospitals
- Promote use of evidence-based approaches by utilizing the Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) outcome measure to set achievable short term goals with service users and integrate their values and preferences alongside clinical expertise and the best available research evidence
- Directly delegate rehabilitation tasks onto team Falls Practitioners, Assistant Practitioners (AP), Community Therapy Assistants (CTA) and Community Care Assistants (CCA) as well as directly referring onto community services
- Provide regular supervision and training sessions for Community Therapy Assistants
- Succesfully present cases to locality Service Managers to advocate for service user wishes with cost-effective care and specialist equipment with some requests for care at home costs of over £30,000 a year per service user
Children and Families Occupational Therapy Student
The City of Edinburgh Council
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
01.2020
- Independently managed a caseload, provided specialist equipment and adaptations for children in the community under the age of 18 living with a wide variety of disabilities, disorders and paediatric conditions
- Used assessments based upon the PEO model to determine need for equipment and adaptations based upon Council remit and HCPC guidelines to support children and families' participation in occupations of daily life at home and in schools
Occupational Therapist
NHS Forth Valley
Falkirk, United Kingdom
09.2019
- Provided specialist neurorehabilitation with a focus on cognitive rehabilitation, fatigue management, vocational rehabilitation and equipment provision for adults with neurological conditions within the community
- Independently managed a caseload, gaining experience using standardized cognitive assessments and independent intervention planning for complex neurological cases
- Gave a formal presentation to the full MDT on contemporary evidence regarding the Upper Limb Assessment Pathway for stroke survivors, which resulted in the incorporation of the Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) as a self-report measure for the team
Mental Health Residential Community Occupational Therapy Student
Cyrenians
Edinburgh City, United Kingdom
06.2019
- Role-emerging placement with long-arm supervision in a residential mental health setting working with older adults
- Developed the Occupational Therapy role in collaboration with Cyrenians mental health key workers to provide person-centered care for service users with a focus on productive and leisure occupations
- Independent implementation of COPM assessment using the G-AP goal-setting framework to assess for long terms goals
Gastroenterology Surgical Wards Occupational Therapy Student
NHS
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
11.2018
- Carried a small caseload, independently completed initial assessments with daily ADL assessments, transfers and kitchen/washing/toilet assessments and equipment provision for service users post-surgery to ensure safety and independence when returning home
- Worked alongside a multidisciplinary team to formulate intervention plans with functional outcomes
Autism Support Worker
Carson Graham Secondary School
01.2018 - 08.2018
- Provided assistance to students with autism and complex learners in acquiring skills in the areas of communication, self-management, life skills, social skills development, including use of visual scheduling, augmentative communication systems, discrete trial format, task analysis, functional assessment of behaviour, effective behaviour management and de-escalation techniques
Mental Health Worker
Coast Mental Health
10.2015 - 10.2017
- Supported personal recovery and development of clients living in community homes of varying ages, backgrounds and states of mental health using principles from the psychosocial rehabilitation framework
- Independently and meticulously administered medication to service users
- Successfully employed nonviolent crisis intervention techniques and utilized community agencies to ensure service user safety
Education
MSc - Occupational Therapy
Queen Margaret University
09.2020
Bachelor's Degree - Psychology
The University of British Columbia
06.2014
Crisis Intervention and Suicide training - undefined
Crisis Centre BC
09.2015
Canadian Association of Disabled Skiing Level 1 (CADS) - undefined
Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports
01.2015
Skills
- Discharge Planning
- Home Assessment
- Manual Handling Risk Assessment
- Reporting and Documentation
- Analysis and Synthesis
- Falls Assessment
- Patient and family relations
- Task and resource prioritization
- Treatment planning
- Specialist Seating
- Pressure and Positioning Assessments
Certification
- Canadian Association of Disabled Skiing Level 1 (CADS), Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports, 01/15
- Crisis Intervention and Suicide training, Crisis Centre BC, 09/15
COTBC Registration
AX4834
Timeline
Occupational Therapist - Long Term Care
Burke Village Medical
02.2024 - Current
Occupational Therapist - Acute
Vancouver Coastal Health
01.2024 - Current
Occupational Therapist - Community
The City of Edinburgh Council
01.2021 - 12.2023
Children and Families Occupational Therapy Student
The City of Edinburgh Council
01.2020
Occupational Therapist
NHS Forth Valley
09.2019
Mental Health Residential Community Occupational Therapy Student
Cyrenians
06.2019
Gastroenterology Surgical Wards Occupational Therapy Student
NHS
11.2018
Autism Support Worker
Carson Graham Secondary School
01.2018 - 08.2018
Mental Health Worker
Coast Mental Health
10.2015 - 10.2017
Bachelor's Degree - Psychology
The University of British Columbia
Crisis Intervention and Suicide training - undefined
Crisis Centre BC
Canadian Association of Disabled Skiing Level 1 (CADS) - undefined
Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports
MSc - Occupational Therapy
Queen Margaret University