About

Our Mission

Our mission at Polaris Rehab is to provide our clients with an effective, personable, and exceptional Occupational Therapy (OT) experience to help them lead rich and meaningful lives, no matter their current circumstances

Whether it’s a one-off consultation, or if there are long-term goals to be achieved, the OTs at Polaris Rehab work diligently to help their clients navigate the complexities of the insurance system, streamline their rehabilitation needs, and achieve their goals in personable, effective, and collaborative manner.

Pablo, Mandeep, and the team at Polaris Rehab respect the individualities of everyone, and pride themselves on empowering clients, as they help them to adapt and thrive in the face of change. The team strives to provide services in a professional, personable, and holistic way.

So, What Exactly is OT?

The term “occupational therapist” (OT) can be a misnomer for many, and understandably so, as it’s common to associate ‘occupation’ with ‘job’. However, in the OT world, the term occupation refers to any activity that occupies your time.

So yes, a job would be included. But also so much more. Essentially, an occupation is anything/everything you do, ranging from self-care activities (eg. eating, bathing/showering, getting dressed, using the toilet, getting around the house), to productive activities (eg. paid work, volunteer work, household management responsibilities like cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping), to leisure activities. Quite literally, everything you do.

With this definition in mind, it becomes clear that the scope of work of OTs is very broad. And with the holistic approach that OTs are able to employ, they are well positioned to assist in all domains of life, regardless of the origin of the difficulty, be it physical, mental health, or cognitive in nature. If an injury or deficit in any of these areas is negatively impacting one's ability to complete any of their typical daily activities.. an OT can help!

OTs are focused on helping individuals maintain, or regain their independence, sense of agency (ability to be in control of their life), and enable them to progress their ability to participate in the meaningful activities they once enjoyed. This can be accomplished through various different ways, including equipment and adaptive aid prescription, education, compensatory/adaptive strategies, advocating for other rehab services (eg. physiotherapy, kinesiology, counselling, etc), liaising/collaborating with employers and other healthcare professionals, and assisting with gradual return to work planning, to name a few.

The Polaris Experience

Our therapists pride themselves on their ability to effectively assess and deliver efficient, individualized, client-centered treatments, in a personable and empathetic manner. We understand that when we are engaged for services, it is likely because an individual has sustained some sort of injury and loss of ability. We appreciate the challenges, frustration, and emotions that they may already be going through, and have it ingrained within our core values as therapists to approach each client as unique individuals. Two people with the same injury may experience their rehabilitation journey in two completely different ways. We respect the individualities of everyone, and place a high degree of importance on personalizing our treatment plans to best suit the needs of each client.

Here's a brief summary of what the process typically looks like when engaging Polaris for OT services:

1) Initial Contact with Polaris Rehab

Brief information gathering
Summary of next steps
Discussion of funding approval
- If funding has been approved, We will assign you an OT best suited to meet your rehab needs
- If funding has not yet been approved, we can help guide you through the steps on how to best obtain this. Generally, a doctor's referral helps

2) Initial Contact with your OT

Brief introduction
Exchange contact info, to ensure your OT is available to you
Schedule the initial assessment
Address any questions or concerns you may have

3) Initial Assessment

You don't have to go anywhere, we come to you to complete the assessment
Administrative paperwork (intake form, client consent form)
Initial assessments are generally longer than regular treatment sessions, and take approximately 1.5 hours, give or take
Mainly conversational in nature (semi-structured interview style), and may include assessment questionnaire(s), to help inform treatment planning
Summary of next steps and answer any questions/concerns you may have

4) Initial Assessment Report

We take all the info from the initial assessment and write our report, which will summarize your overall situation to contextualize our findings, your main ongoing symptoms/concerns, findings with regards to physical/mental health/cognitive limitations, abilities/challenges with functional mobility, self-care (eg. personal hygiene tasks), productive tasks (eg. home management like cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.), and challenges with work or school, if applicable.
We outline our treatment plan, and any other recommendations with regards to other supports/services and equipment that may help with your recovery
In the case of ICBC claims, this report will be submitted to your adjustor for treatment funding approval

5) OT approval

Once we receive approval from the funder (eg. ICBC, Worksafe or other insurance provider), our OT will contact you to schedule your first treatment session

6) Commencement of OT treatment

Specific treatment sessions will vary, and will be customized to best suit the goals to be achieved
Treatment sessions are generally completed at your residence, but may also be completed elsewhere, depending on the treatment and goals at hand
Treatment sessions may vary in length, but are typically 1 hour in duration
Frequency of treatment sessions vary, depending on rehab needs

7) Reassessments

Periodic reassessment sessions are completed (typically every few months) throughout your rehab journey, to obtain an updated 'snapshot' of your status as you progress
Reassessments are similar to initial assessments, but typically shorter in duration since your OT will already be well in-tune with your situation

8) Conclusion of OT services

Once OT goals are met to the best of the client's ability, and OT services are no longer required, your OT will discuss the process of concluding services
A discharge assessment and report will be completed, to provide one final 'snapshot' of your status

Communities We Serve

We strive to make OT services available to all those in need. We currently provide OT services for most regions of the Lower Mainland (ie. as far north as West Van/North Van, south to Tsawwassen, and east to Mission/Abbotsford)