The Rails Project | Handrail Prescription Training for OTs

Bonus: 12 Months Access

Get A Full Year Of On-Demand Access - To Back You Up In The Moments That Count

Join The Rails Project

A Self-Paced Roadmap to Prescribing Powerful, Effective and Evidence Based Rails for Occupational Therapists

Australia's Leading 6-week Intensive Program to build your competency in basic and complex rail prescriptions, with Bonus 12 month access!

Enroll Now To Join The Rails Project

Course Inclusions

The Rails Project is a 6-week course designed to walk you through the core elements of safe rail prescription. This course is like none other in terms of the depth and detail that is explored.

The course includes:

✔️ 6-Week online self paced course - so you can access invest in your career no matter where you are.

✔️ 12 modules packed full of in depth detail so you can build a solid foundation for home modifications

✔️ Live Q&A session where you will be able to explore your specific questions

✔️ 24/7 access to Recordings of the Q&A Library so you can stay connected even if you can not make the session.

✔️ Ongoing Access to all course materials - so you can jump back in and consolidate in context

✔️ 20 CPD points (equivalent to 20 hours including practical tasks)

Bonus: 12 Month Access - Your Safety Net All Year Long.

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Customised Training Portal

24/7 Access to the 6 week, 12 module course including videos, tasks and reflective learning opportunities with bonus 365 day access.

Resource Worksheets

Use the Customised Worksheets to Develop your own resource to support your learning and future clinical work with each module.

Q&A

Submit your questions for Janelle to unpack live and also Learn from others in the program

Behind the Scenes of The Rails Project

Hand Rail prescription is a core skill for many Occupational Therapists and is a foundational skill and knowledge base for more complex home modifications.

In The Rail Project, we will unpack the steps required to prescribe handrails, grabrails and bannister rails and also explore the foundational elements which are common across all home modifications.

This course is right for you if you are looking to brush up your clinical skills in rail prescriptions, returning to an environmental OT role, are an early career OT, new graduate or student.

A review of the modules with a deep dive into modules 2,4 and 8 are below.

Module 1: Power of Rails

Module 2: The Prescribing Process

- Intro

- Clinician Vs Genie

- what happens when it goes wrong

- Evidence based Practice

- foundational clinical models

- models and their practical application

- clinical reasoning and hand rails

- Appling the clinical journey

Module 3: Legislation and Compliance

Module 4: The OT and The Team

- The prescription puzzle

- The team: roles and responsibilities

- The Manufacture

- The Supplier

- The Installer and Engineer

- The OT (critical questions and EBP)

- Effective Communication

- Unpacking Concept of Works

Module 5: Environment

Module 6: Product Considerations

Module 7: Product Practicalities

Module 8: The Person

- Introduction

- harm of handrails

- Navigating Dignity, Choice and Duty of Care

- Overview of Orientations

- Anthropometrics

- Clinical Considerations

- PEOP model in practice

Module 9: Measuring

Module 10: Sketching and Concepts

Bonus 1:

When it goes wrong

Bonus 2:

Case studies

As seen at

Did you know that 80% of rails prescribed by occupational therapists

failed after 6-24 months?

I was shocked too.

After all, we all learn about how to prescribe rails at university, so why the high failure rate?

In my research, I discovered that while universities teach theory, the practice of prescribing compliant and effective rails is a completely different skill.

There are so many elements to consider:

Is the rail compliant with legislation?
What are the movement patterns of the client, and how will the rail impact them?
What are the product options and what environments are they suitable for?

How will the rail be installed? Does the builder understand what is needed and will they install it correctly?

Most OT’s rely on templates and handed-down information for their rail prescriptions that is either out of date or comes recommended by the manufacturer (who is more interested in selling products than being compliant).

This results in the 80% failure rate I mentioned, which then means:

Ineffective rails that either don’t get used or worse, cause injury
Unhappy clients that feel like OT’s are a waste of money
Unpaid time wasted on rectifying the failed rail and a damaged reputation, as OT’s are increasingly being held liable for their work

With increasing pressures and changes in the health and disability spaces in Australia, more than ever ensuring clinical competency across all areas of clinical practice is vital.

Whilst handrail and grabrail prescriptions are seen to be a basic intervention, the impact of a failed script both to client and required rectification works can be significant.

The Rails Project unpacks the key elements of rail prescription in detail, exploring all key evidenced areas required for sound practice.

Whether you have been an OT for 20 years or just 2 years into your training, this course will provide you with what you need to know to ensure solid rail prescriptions and foundation for further modifications.

Book Your Spot Now

Janelle is the Clinical Director of Kadia Therapy - a boutique Occupational Therapy service (shortlisted for team culture 2021 Allied Health Awards) in Victoria and is a lead educator and director of The Kadia Lab - a space for Occupational Therapists and Students across Australia to access quality education.

She is a complex home Modification Therapist with a specific passion to up-skilling therapists within the Home Modification and Assistive Technology Space.

As a multi-award-winning Occupational Therapist who has worked across the Acute, sub-acute and community health spaces over the last one and a half decades in both clinical, educational and clinical roles, Janelle is able to speak to the learning and capability requirements of therapists across the sector.

She is passionate about the personal development of every therapist and student that comes across her path. When she is not spending time with her team, mentoring or supporting other therapists, or exploring new learnings, she is enjoying quality time with her husband, two cats and a love of coffee and adventure.

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OT's Are Set Up To Fail - With Rail Fails Happening Far Too Often

If you have heard Janelle speak at a conference, your workplace or in any of her rails webinars, you will have heard about the high rate of failed rails across Australia. The inconsistencies of prescriptions and low level of compliance in client customisations is more than a little scary.

To give an idea of some of the failed rails identified in her research, check out the images below.

In an ideal world, we OTs would not leave university without having a solid grasp on the seemingly foundational skill of rail prescription. But there is a big difference between academic theory and the practical realities of the community - and universities aren't built to provide that level of training.

So we rely on our mentors and supervisors for support - but they don't necessarily have all the answers either! We are all using hand-me-down information and out-of-date templates infused with misinformation that is the best we and those who came before us could cobble together based on their understanding of the rules at the time.

Which leads to inadvertently incorrectly prescribed rails that are not only ineffective, but also leave you as a Therapist liable under duty of care.

But in this information age, we can do better.
Rails should be a simple, straightforward prescription that you KNOW will help your clients.

The Rails Project is a self-paced course designed to provide clinical support for OT's who are currently providing home modifications (minor or complex) or who have an emerging interest in this field.

In this course you will explore and uncover the complexities hiding behind the misconception that handrail and grabrail prescriptions are 'basic' or 'simple' and step into a world where assumptions are challenged and a solid framework for rail prescriptions are explored.

Whether you have been an OT for 20 years or just 2 years into your training, this course will provide you with what you need to know to ensure solid rail prescriptions and foundation for further modifications.

This course supports OTs across the health care continuum from acute, subacute and community who are wanting to confidently and competently tailor rail prescriptions to the unique needs of their clients / patients.

In completing this course, you will be able to adjust your prescription to the specifics of your client and their environment, ensuring compliance to legislation and ensuring the long-term suitability of your prescription.

Check out what therapists have said so far:

The Beginning Of The Rails Project...

When Janelle was in the early stages of her career, she learnt handrail prescription the "standard" way: templates landing on her desk, and a brief handover of how to prescribe according to the template.

However, when she started working in community, she started to see things like:

- Rails coming away from walls,

- Clients with injuries for whom rails were either unusable, or worsening their movement patterns.

These rails had been in place for 6 months to 2 years, and were all prescribed by qualified therapists.

After exploring the training and concept of works behind these installations, Janelle quickly discovered that with the prescriptions she was reviewing were consistent with her own training - so where had the training gone wrong that rails were being prescribed so poorly?.

From a heart of curiosity and a strong drive to get it right for her own clients, Janelle started a deep dive into handrails.

What she found was scary.

- Builders reported they had little confidence in OT prescriptions

- Scripts that Contradict Standards, putting Clients and Therapists at Risk.

- Therapists that have limited clinical reasoning for rail prescriptions and are confused regarding who was responsible for what.

- Significant prescription variances and unsafe implementation across a wide catchment area (Northern, Eastern and South Eastern Melbourne and later in locations in NSW, Qld and Perth)

-Therapists reporting 'client was happy' as the primary indicator of success.

All of this lead to a false sense of security, increased risk to clients and Therapists left vulnerable under duty of care.

This highlighted the clear need for clarity and comprehensive training about rails.

Following pursuit of this area of research in post grad studies at the University of South Australia, Janelle has now presented her research at Sydney OT Australia Conference, Melbourne Assistive Technology Conference (OTA), Monash Health, and other groups across Australia.

This research has led to the development of this training, as well as additional student lead projects with Australian Catholic University, Monash Health and The Kadia Lab.

Janelle is passionate about supporting therapists to have the information and the tools she wished she had had earlier in her career, so that she could serve her clients to the best of her ability, and support the growth and reputation of Occupational Therapy in Australia.

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Hear From More OT's Across Australia Who Have Started Their Rail Journey

“Learning about legislation, different rail configurations, rail products and how to bring it all together was so helpful. Definitely the best PD I have completed this year… if not ever…” (Senior OT)

“Janelle’s Knowledge is great. She has made the sessions very enjoyable”

“Very relevant.. Very practical and within my scope of practice”

Private Practice OT

“Clear explanation of issues, problems solving and different types of rails was most appropriate for my clinical practice”

“ I (now) take the initiative to find more about the product and its weight capacity. I ask questions to the family about the type of frames used and make the recommendations accordingly. I was never confident like this before. Now I could at least find out the problems and able to problem solve with appropriate solutions…”

Grade 2 Community OT

“I saw my clinical practice through new eyes - and I only did the training a week ago!”

“Amazing! Well Researched content and advice on legislative implications”

“Fantastic, enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable presenter. Inspiring to think outside the box of what I thought we can do with rails. It would be good to attend another (course) with you again Janelle”

Sub-Acute Grade 3 OT

“I have to say, teaching is something that (Janelle is) amazing at..”

Having worked in a community for many years, I thought I knew most of the relevant information required to make recommendations for rails. After the completion of home mods course present by Janelle, I understood the importance of making appropriate recommendations …. I now have new confidence to prescribe the rails appropriately… Highly recommend it any time to advance your knowledge.”

Community Therapist / Private Practice Owner

Want to Confidently Prescribe Rails?

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