What is an Occupational Therapist?

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• A healthcare professional with extensive medical knowledge and training in the progression of chronic diseases, with strong understanding of the nuances of physical and cognitive disabilities and the aging process.  With this medical background Occupational Therapists - as opposed interior designers, builders, and architects - are better able to address the effects of these factors upon home modification recommendations.

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• Identifies equipment and techniques to make daily living tasks possible or easier to accomplish

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• Develops an individualized program designed to remove barriers and enhance independence

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What is a Certified Aging-In-Place Specialist?

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• A professional certified through the National Association of Homebuilders to understand building and design strategies and techniques

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• Goal is to create attractive, barrier-free living environments

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About Margie Fox Kwart, M.S., OTR/L, CAPS

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Margie Fox Kwart, founder of Stay Put Solutions, LLC is both a state licensed Occupational Therapist (OT) as well as a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) - with a Practice Area of Emphasis in Geriatrics (PAE). As an occupational therapist, she understands and treats an individual’s ability to perform normal routines of daily functioning while dealing with newly acquired or chronic health challenges. In addition, she is a CAPS professional who understands building design and home modification strategies for creating attractive, barrier-free living spaces.

 

Margie’s extensive knowledge of diseases, disabilities and the aging process allows her to truly comprehend the typical problems and concerns that result from changes in one’s health status, or simply as one ages.  Margie’s expertise lies in her ability to accurately assess an individual’s environment, and make cost-effective modifications to ensure a good fit with a client’s unique needs and abilities. She can help design and modify a client’s home to accommodate these changing needs well into the future.

 

In 1987, Margie graduated from Medical College of Virginia with a Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy. In 2013, she earned her CAPS certification from the National Association of Homebuilders.  Margie first found her niche for working with the geriatric population at the age of 15, when she began volunteering at the nursing home where her grandmother was living.  Her heartfelt passion for seniors has stayed with her to this day.

 

Through her years of experience in acute, rehabilitation, and home health care, she has made it possible for hundreds of individuals to safely and independently remain in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes throughout all phases of their lives. 

 

How Stay Put Solutions, LLC Began

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Margie saw a need to bridge the gap between being discharged from a medical facility and being able to safely return to one’s home living environment.  Oftentimes changes to the home were needed, but already-overwhelmed family members did not know exactly what modifications were necessary, nor whom to call - or trust - to get the appropriate work done.

 

At the same time, as a frequent community presenter on Fall Prevention, Margie was often approached by well seniors desiring individualized home assessments.  They wanted to know whether they could make relatively minor modifications to their existing homes now, that would make it possible for them to remain in their homes well into the future. They wanted to ‘age-in-place’, not have to leave their homes as they aged.

 

Thus, Margie began Stay Put Solutions, LLC. Her years of experience, genuine passion & devotion for her work, and attention-to-detail, have allowed her to positively impact the lives and hearts of people of all ages and abilities.