You need patient contact experience.
Our kids need a helping hand.
Volunteering is an easy win for all.
Of surveyed PA schools, 41% of require PCE upwards of 500 hours.
Medical school applicants typically need 100 - 150 hours to be competitive.
Where will you get your PCE?
... and you become better qualified for grad school.
Professional schools are competitive, and many expect you to have hundreds of PCE hours when you apply. It's time to start on that now.
In just 4 hours a week, you give kids more fulfilling lives.
Let's face it, therapy for kids with special needs is expensive--even with insurance. Plus, all the time and travel. Supporting these kiddos takes extra money, time, and talent that mom and dad might not have.
Here's where you step in and save the day--by implementing the programs sent home by their teachers or therapists, you provide the frequency needed to move the needle and bring about real change, so they can overcome their challenges.
Imagine beginning your professional school application describing the moment of triumph when you helped a young boy finally speak and say "Yeah! Let's play soccer!" And imagine his mama's joy when she saw him score his first goal--all because you were there to coach him.
Here's your chance to change their lives.
Helping others helps you, too
If you’re pursuing a healthcare career, you likely need patient contact experience. And you need a standout application. Rather than simply “shadowing,” step up to greater growth by serving where you can strengthen your application and clinical skills, grow personally, and sense a deep satisfaction of improving the life of a child--and her entire family, too.
Stronger Application
Perceiving patients’ struggles
Earning required PCE
Helping others
Challenging yourself
Clinical Skills
Reading your patient
Understanding struggles
Adapting quickly
Gaining a patient’s cooperation
Personal Growth
Growing patience & connection
Nurturing deep relationships
Witnessing family dynamics
Satisfaction
Seeing progress
Relieving parents
Creating space for siblings
Join the undergrads who are well prepared for their admissions interviews.
Their work with kiddos has taught them to think and adapt quickly. They have experience and answers for those unexpected questions.
9
years
160
volunteers
1M+
smiles
I have been able to easily grasp concepts … because of my experience [with my HHT patient] that most of my classmates do not have.
Meredith Gary Haney, OTD | Dallas, TX
HHT prepared me well for professional school and my career. It was my favorite patient contact experience!
Jesse Jaynes, OTD, OTR/L | Galveston TX
Within Jesse’s 6-month gap "year," she ranked as Ascend Behavior Partners’ #1 Registered Behavioral Tech in Texas.
HHT solidified skills that made me successful in both PA school applications and rotations. These also help me connect with patients and advocate for multidisciplinary care.
Kara Hellweg, PA-S | Houston TX
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Prepare yourself.
Our volunteer therapists start as early as their freshman year, knowing that their junior year is packed full of projects and applications.
There's no better time than now to start earning PCE.
About Us
Why we do what we do, and how it all started ...
Our Purpose
Hands at Home Therapy exists to serve three populations: overwhelmed moms and dads, their children with special needs, and students who want to serve them–at the same time gaining depth of experience and patient understanding that cannot be found by merely shadowing or taking vitals. When all three come together, everyone wins.
Our Story
Amy Gordon | Founder & CEO
In 2015, I struggled to implement a thrice-daily therapy program with my son, Gabe, who is on the autism spectrum. I juggled many roles as a mom and soon discovered that occupational therapy was not my mojo. But bringing resources together is, and I used this skill to find a better way of getting Gabe the help he needed.
Drawing on my experience leading volunteer teams, I connected with service-hearted students who implemented our at-home therapy program. Within six years, Gabe was reading at a college level. It worked.
After training and mentoring 160+ volunteers over nine years, I knew how to make our program doable for busy students, growing them into standout candidates for professional school.
Seeing that more students needed this kind of patient contact experience and other families needed the same support, I launched Hands at Home Therapy as a membership. I’m delighted it serves to redeem my lessons learned and fast-track students into their healthcare professions.
FAQs
Service Questions
Where do I serve?
Usually our volunteer therapists (VTs) serve in the patient’s home, but it could include serving in places around town. For example, gross motor skill work might include practicing soccer skills at a nearby park. How’s that for some fun PCE?
Do I need experience? A license or certification?
No. That’s the point–to get experience. We make it clear with our families that we are not licensed OTs, PAs, RBTs, or LMNOPs. However, our VTs need to enjoy working with children and welcome the opportunity to grow their patience and therapy chops.
What does a typical day look like?
That depends on your patient and their family. VTs will implement a support plan set by the parent or the child’s therapist. Some examples include processing exercises (digit spans and sequences), fine and gross motor exercises (soccer, catch with ball, tying shoes), life skills (eating, handwashing, blowing nose), tutoring academics, or serving as the hands and feet of immobile patients.
Time Commitment & Schedule
How much time does it take?
VTs (volunteer therapists) serve a minimum of four hours per week for a minimum of 120 hours, after which they earn a letter of recommendation from Hands at Home Therapy. This should be completed within two full semesters (or 30 weeks, if started mid-semester) and is usually with the same family during this timespan.
What’s the schedule like?
VTs work with their assigned family to set a regular schedule that works for both parties. We suggest two-hour sessions twice per week at recurring times, but either party may have different needs. The VT and family can negotiate exceptions for busy seasons or vacations. Keep in mind VT service should be completed within a 30-week span. If sessions are missed, due to illness for example, should make up the session(s) in the following weeks to keep their service on track.
What about breaks & summers?
VTs are not expected to serve during college breaks (unless they signed on to serve during summer semesters) and their service period may be split by a summer break. Other than these breaks, service should be completed during a 30-week span. For example, if you served six weeks starting mid-spring and leave town for summer break, you should resume and complete the remaining 24 weeks in the summer (optional) or fall. As Hands at Home Therapy expands to other cities, VTs should ask about possible opportunities to serve when “back home” as well.
Letters of Recommendation & OT Shadowing Hours
I need a Letter of Recommendation soon. May I expedite my service?
You may, provided there is opportunity. Summer is an especially good time to serve with greater frequency to earn your recommendation in a shorter time frame. Go for it.
Will this count for OT shadowing hours?
HHT provides fabulous experience for working one-on-one with a patient, and depending on the patient’s plan, may help you learn to run a fluid therapy session on your own. But we do not provide OT shadowing experience, as we are not licensed OTs. You may, however, log this as volunteer hours on an OT application. In some fortunate circumstances, VTs might be asked to attend OT therapy sessions with the child, and perhaps these sessions may “count.” HHT does not provide documentation in this case, and the VT will need to secure that with the OT.
What special needs would my patient have?
We serve children with a wide range of diagnoses that may include: ADHD, autism, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, sensory processing disorder (SPD), learning or intellectual disabilities, speech and language disorders, visual or hearing impairments, or other diagnoses.
Will I make a difference in my patient’s life?
Absolutely. The added therapy frequency will help the child progress far faster than what would happen with say, just one or two therapy sessions per week with their OT or special ed teacher. You’ll see growth throughout the months and create memories to last your lifetime and his.
How will my service help my patient’s family?
Unless you’ve lived it, it’s hard to imagine the multitudes of stressors that these families face, such as:
> Adjusting their expectations of what they imagined their family would look like
> Not knowing where to find support, what kind of support is needed, and how to pay for it
> Wondering if siblings are being neglected due to the attention diverted to the child with special needs
> Dealing with complicated sibling rivalries
> Worry over the unknown future of their child / who cares for them when we die?
> Planning how to go to the grocery store alone, or catch coffee with a friend
So in light of that, your presence brings massive relief. And you may just score yourself a home away from home.
General Info
What is Hands at Home Therapy?
Hands at Home Therapy is a matchmaker between special needs kiddos and our vetted volunteers who want to serve them. Through our membership, moms and dads get a much needed break while our students earn PCE by implementing the programs that the child’s therapist or teacher want practiced at home.
Why volunteer?
HHT provides a great opportunity for service-minded students who want to see children grow and while they earn hard-to-find patient contact experience for their professional school applications. The one-on-one connection helps future healthcare professionals learn to “read” their patients, grow trust, adapt quickly, and get the output needed to make an accurate diagnosis (for doctors or PAs) or grow physical and cognitive abilities (for OTs).
Who can serve?
Any college student who enjoys working with children with special needs is encouraged to apply. Usually our team members are pursuing careers in medicine, nursing, OT, PT, PA, speech pathology, or education. Applicants will be interviewed and screened, references will be checked, and background checks will be cleared before applicants are selected for the team and matched with children.
Become a volunteer therapist and earn your PCE.
Send me an application for patient contact experience!
As a bonus, you'll receive my FREE 8 Preps for Professional School!
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