Premium
Occupational therapy for people with ventricular assist devices
Author(s) -
Shepherd Judy,
Wilding Clare
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1630.2005.00506.x
Subject(s) - occupational therapy , citation , medicine , library science , psychology , art history , history , psychiatry , computer science
Ventricular assist devices (VADs) are a form of medical technology that are used to support the failing blood circulation of patients, and thus keep patients alive while they await heart transplant surgery (Levin et al., 1994). Savage (2003) reports that the number of patients needing this technology is increasing because the number of patients with end-stage heart failure is rising. Within Victoria, The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne is the only place where VAD implantation surgery is currently conducted. As this is a state-wide service, there is only one occupational therapist in Victoria who works with this particular group of patients. However, it is likely that the number of patients needing VADs will increase (Kennedy, Haykowsky & Humphrey, 2003), and therefore, it is anticipated that occupational therapists might be interested in the role of occupational therapy for this unique group of patients. Thus, the purpose of this article is to briefly explain the VAD and how it can affect the lives and occupations of patients, and in doing so, the role that occupational therapy plays within this specialised area of practice will be illustrated.