Home programs are an essential part of therapy. But let’s be real - between kids, pets, life admin, and the general chaos of the universe, even the best-laid therapy plans sometimes disappear into thin air.
Ask any therapist and they’ll tell you: for every carefully designed home program, there's an equally creative excuse for why it wasn’t completed.
We’ve been on a mission since 2018 to reduce admin burden on clinicians - all while aiming to increase engagement in therapy outside of 1-1 sessions.
And we’ve all of the excuses!
Here are nine of our all-time favourite excuses for skipping home therapy programs - from the relatable to the truly ridiculous.
Further below under the creative excuses, we share a helpful checklist for clinics to evaluate how engaged your participants are with your therapy programs. It’s a 2min form with just 11 questions about your clinic operations.
9 Creative Excuses for Not Completing Home Programs
1. "We left it in the car... I think?"
Somewhere between soccer practice and grocery runs, your home program has slipped into the mysterious black hole that is the back seat.
If only finding it was as easy as misplacing it!
2. "My baby chewed it."
Kids explore with their mouths — and unfortunately, your therapy plan looks a lot like a snack.
Paper doesn’t stand a chance when teething is involved.
3. "We squished banana all over it."
Sometimes home programs get lost. Sometimes they get... breakfasted. This excuse actually happened to Theratrak’s founder Laura Simmons in her early years of working as an Occupational Therapist in Sydney.
Life lesson: bananas and paperwork are not a good mix.
4. "It went through the washing machine."
The paper was safe - until laundry day happened.
Now it’s just a memory, somewhere between a sock and a soggy grocery receipt.
5. "We turned it into a paper plane."
Aerodynamics > Therapy exercises, apparently.
When boredom strikes, paper folds, and stretches are postponed.
6. "We lost it between the couch cushions... and now it’s part of the couch."
It’s official: your home program has ascended to a higher plane of existence, alongside spare change and that one missing TV remote.
Life’s busy. Kids are creative. The easier it is to access home programs - reminders, tracking, progress feedback - the more likely they’ll get done.
7. "The dog ate it."
A classic excuse, and surprisingly still very much in rotation.
Dogs are loyal, loving, and apparently big fans of home exercise sheets.
8. "It became a coffee coaster."
Multipurpose, sustainable... just unfortunately not very actionable when it’s soaked in double-shot lattes.
9. "Aliens took it."
At a certain point, you have to admire the level of imagination.
We can neither confirm nor deny extraterrestrial involvement, but we do recommend backing up your programs... just in case.
Is your clinic set up for engagement success?
Any of these excuses sound familiar? We know home programs are important - but life happens.
Between busy schedules, playful kids, creative accidents, and the gravitational pull of couch cushions, sticking to therapy plans can be a real challenge.
That's why making home programs simple, accessible, and engaging is key.
But how do you know where your clinic stands?
If you’ve heard even a few of these excuses in your clinic, it might be time to reflect on how easy (or not) it is for your participants to engage with their home programs.
Complete the Therapy Engagement Checklist
We created this free 2min Therapy Engagement Checklist to help clinicians spot the gaps, reflect on participant follow-through and find areas to improve.
It only takes 2 minutes - just 11 quick questions, rated from 1–5 covering things like:
Are your participants motivated and clear on their goals?
Can they easily give you feedback or track their progress?
Do they even find their program when they need it? (Extra points if it’s not under the couch or covered in banana!)
Digital tools (like Theratrak!) help participants stay on track with easy-to-access programs, built-in reminders, and progress tracking - without needing to dodge bananas, dogs, or laundry disasters.
Whether you're nailing it or need a fresh approach for better engagement, after the quiz, we share a few tips to boost engagement beyond the 1-1 in-person therapy session.
