Rural Pediatric Allied Health

Services support the growth and development of children and youth as well as their participation in meaningful functional activities.

What Families Can Expect:

• families and caregivers are actively involved
• we want to understand what's important to your child and family (what matters to you) e.g. daily routines, family and friends, activities you enjoy
• services are goal-driven; starting and continuing services is based on having functional reasons/goals for rehabilitation
• the length of service will vary. It is based on a child's needs and goals, and the availability of local programs
• services may be time limited. Teams address child and family needs within available resources
• services may be in-person, by phone, or videoconference. They may be in a group or one to one
• we will talk with you about next steps. You and your child will be supported to move to the next developmental stage or between providers and services
• assessment is part of rehabilitation. It comes in many forms. The purpose is to understand your child's strengths and needs. This guides the (rehabilitation) care plan
• we will work together with you and other providers
• therapy may look like ‘play’, depending on your child’s age
• we will work with you to find home ideas that fit with your life
• we want to know if the (rehabilitation) care plan is not working for your child or family
• we want to know if things are getting in the way of rehabilitation e.g. travel, health, other family needs
• AHS Translation / Interpretation services are available.

Program Description:
Your child may need help from more than one type of service. The care team works with children, youth and families to support participation in activities that are important to you. Working together helps everyone to focus on your biggest priority for your child and family. Supports provided are related to (neuro)developmental and / or medical conditions.
Services are provided for children and youth with a variety of needs. For example:

• hearing (e.g. responding to sounds, noise, voices, words)
• moving (e.g. sitting, crawling, walking, coordination)
• using hands (e.g. playing with toys, using utensils)
• taking care of self (e.g. dressing, toileting, doing chores, sleeping)
• equipment needs (e.g. wheelchair, walking aides, adaptive aides)
• physical symptoms (e.g. muscle/joint tightness, head shape, sensitivity to noise or touch)
• managing emotions (e.g. behavior, becoming overwhelmed)
• communication (e.g. understanding directions, babbling, using words and sentences)
• clear speech (e.g. being understood by others, stuttering, voice quality)
• feeding and swallowing (e.g. coughing, gagging, choking, choking, psychosocial factors impacting mealtime routines and feeding relationships, limited/restricted diet)

More advanced feeding supports are available (Okotoks location only) for babies and children with developmental, neurological, and medical conditions requiring a coordinated approach (e.g. medical instability or risk of deterioration, safety risk, aversion to oral feeding, disturbances in oral intake leading to nutrition/hydration risk)
This team will do their best to find ways to help everyone on the team, including the child / youth, their parents and the family.