The Process of Working with a Therapist for In-Home Therapy
For something as important as finding a home therapist for your family, you want to know the basics about how to make this decision. It may seem overwhelming at the beginning, but once you take the initial step of discussing your concerns with your child’s pediatrician or family doctor, the rest of the process will progress naturally. Here is a guide on how to get started finding someone for in-home therapy, and what the process might look like.
Referrals for In-Home Therapy
Referrals are usually either done by the child’s doctor or can be self-referred. When getting a referral from a doctor, the first point of action would be talking to your child’s doctor about any concerns you have about their development. They can conduct initial testing or explain specific milestones and how your child’s development aligns with them. If they want further testing or agree with some of your concerns, they will then provide a referral for a more comprehensive evaluation. With a self-referral, you can always call and be connected with a patient advocate who can further discuss your child’s situation and help you navigate the necessary information to proceed with a referral, including any documented diagnoses and insurance for in-home therapy.
Have an Evaluation Done
Once a referral has been made, you can get in touch with us at Care Options for Kids, or we will reach out to you and discuss whether your referral has been accepted and what your particular insurance covers. At this point, we can go ahead and schedule an evaluation at your earliest convenience. When the day of the appointment arrives, a licensed clinician will visit your home for a thorough evaluation. This evaluation will determine whether physical, occupational (learn more about why in-home occupational therapy is beneficial), speech, or a combination of these therapies would be most beneficial for your child.
Creating a Plan of Care with the Parents
After the evaluation, if it has been deemed appropriate for the child to work with a pediatric home therapist, then the therapist will create a plan of care. This plan will be created in consultation with the parents as well as the child’s doctor to make sure that everyone is in agreement about what goals to work towards. After this step is completed, therapy can begin right away.
Finding the Best Natural Setting
Whether at school or home, the therapists working with your child want to make sure that they are comfortable and feel safe so that they can learn and grow to their highest potential. The main benefit of having a home therapist is that they want to learn where a child will thrive and continuously work in that setting, such as a comfortable home environment, so that the anxiety of unknown spaces is irrelevant. After creating a plan of care, the best location for consistent work with the child will likely be discussed.
Working with the Family, Doctors, and Insurance During the Whole Process to Ensure a Smooth Process for the Family
And finally, when you work with us, we don’t want families to worry about navigating health insurance claims or connecting doctors with therapists to ensure they are both aware of the plan of care. We work through all of that, and we do it transparently and consistently so that your child is receiving the best care possible while at the same time supporting families with a smooth and worry-free process.
Overall, although there are a few steps that must be completed to get the ball rolling to find a quality pediatric home therapist for in-home therapy, once the first step is taken, the rest will quickly fall into place.
