and avoid all unnecessary bending, reaching, and stretching” (Lou & Tischenkel, 2009).
The occupational therapist will make suggestion in particular areas of the home such as
lowering the everyday kitchen dishes and cups to a lower shelf, the medicine in the
medicine cabinet to a lower shelf and the clothes on the closet shelf to a lower area like
the floor or placed on the dresser. The participants will also identify activities that they
experience reaching and find alternatives with the other participants and the therapist guidance.
The participants will also examine their daily schedules and identify the activities that typically require them to be exposed outdoor when the weather is warm. It is recommended to “Avoid activities that involve exposure to warm weather by performing activities during cooler times” (Lou & Tischenkel, 2009, p. 1). The occupational therapist will guide the participants individually to reorganize their schedule to possible do shopping and outdoor leisure activities in the early morning or later evening when the temperature may be cooler.
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When an individual sits they are able to save twenty-five percent of their energy (Lou & Tischenkel, 2009). The participants will examine together and with the therapist assistance, activities can be done sitting with each other and the occupational therapist. The occupational therapist can help them also determine other tasks that are not typically done sitting. An example is folding laundry, doing dishes and bathing (Lou & Tischenkel, 2009). Having the individual break up tasks into smaller tasks can make them manageable (Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy,
There we significant changes taking place in the field of occupational therapy during the mechanistic paradigm of the 1960’s. In the last few years of this decade, occupational therapy was beginning to divert back to its original, holistic focus. Occupation as a health-restoring measure, with emphasis on the person and environment, was becoming the focal point (Flick, 2015). Elizabeth Yerxa, a registered occupational therapist, emerged as a leader during this time with contributions to the philosophical foundation and values of the occupational therapy profession. In 1966, Yerxa received the honor of the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Award, and presented her lecture, “Authentic Occupational Therapy.” She was named an American Occupational Therapy Association member in 1973 and received the Merit Award in 1987. She has been a professor at the University of Southern California since 1988 (“Distinguished Emeritus Professor,” n.d.).
Occupational therapy is much more than enhancing activities of daily living to me. I see occupational therapy as helping people achieve daily freedom and making attainable goals to improve their physical and mental health while providing a professional relationship to encourage trust and reliability throughout treatment. Something as simple as tying shoes or being able to grab a fork to eat can make all the difference in the world to the patients an occupational therapist will treat. I have been working at a hand clinic since September and have seen that the small achievements like the tying of the shoes of the ability to bend the finger 10 more degrees puts a big smile on the faces of the patients and improves their outlook and demeanor towards their injury. Encouraging home exercise, helping with self cares, teaching writing skills and helping provide custom splints are all aspects that I have seen with my job and observation of occupational therapy as a whole. When I started my job at the hand clinic a therapist told me that the most basic occupational therapy explanation she could provide me is that occupational therapy is a way of helping others achieve a better level of daily living for things that they want and or need to do in life than when they sought help from therapy.
Occupational therapists help people of all ages recovering from physical or mental illnesses participate and perform what they want or need to accomplish through works of therapeutic rehabilitation with use of everyday activities in daily life; hence, giving it the name Occupational Therapy. An occupational therapist must look at their patients holistically, not just the part that is causing them problems. Occupational therapists are important as they help people regain their independence in daily activities. This field is projected to be the fastest in growth in upcoming years.
Dementia is a mental health disorder commonly addressed with in the geriatric population. Dementia involves a cognitive decline of the brain. This is a disease of a broader spectrum and can be broken down into other subgroups or diseases such as: Alzheimer’s, vascular, frontal-temporal and dementia with Lewy bodies. As dementia gets progressively worse the more challenges the individual faces. Simple daily occupations such as dressing, feeding, even rest and sleep are difficult task to complete. As occupational therapist it is important to address mental health issues and injustices towards occupations. Dementia is a global health concern as it affects the community or social integration as the disease onsets. This cognitive disorder is usually a concern of inpatient skilled nursing facilities in the latter stages. Therapist must address our role in this
While there are many ways that a person can specialize in the field of occupational therapy, one of the profession’s draws exists in the potential for variety and diversity. The goal of occupational therapy is to provide therapies and alternatives that allow clients to return to the things that they need to be able to do, and the things they want to be able to do. This is obviously a broad definition, and one that can be achieved in various groups, and through various methods. Occupational therapists can specialize in hand therapy, stroke rehabilitation, driving, community mobility, low vision patients, pediatrics, or geriatrics. In any of these specialties, a therapist can address their patient’s daily living activities, leisure, work, education, or social participation. An increased ability to participate in any of these activities can be facilitated through a variety of treatments: splinting, modalities, adaptive equipment, task modification, environmental modification, or activities centered on desired occupations.
S: At the beginning of the session the child dropped her head and then hid behind her regular treating occupational therapist. She only talked when the OTS asked questions or initiated the conversation.
Occupational therapists can work as part of a healthcare team with doctors, nurses and other types of therapists to come up with treatment plans and options. For example, after a patient has surgery such as a hip replacement the therapist must get together with the doctors and nurses to discuss a plan for rehabilitation. How much pressure can be put on the patient’s hip is a very important aspect that the doctor would be able to answer, considering the doctor performed the
When people are unable to participate in the daily activities of their occupation, Brown and Hollis (2013) reported that people can experience a brief pause or disruption in their normal activities, a deprived state of activity that can severely restrict social, cultural, or personal engagements, or create an imbalance when a person becomes “unoccupied, under occupied, or over occupied” (p.1246). Eventually, any of these lapses in functioning can create or intensify other physical or mental issues. Santrock (2012) expressed that occupational therapists “help people regain, develop, and build skills that are important for independent functioning, health, well-being, security, and happiness” (p.45). Perhaps occupational therapy on the whole can be described as utilizing multiple techniques to help different people with one or several distinct impairments that hinder them at various times in their life. Kronenberg and Pollard (2006) stated that “occupational therapy is said to be based
Occupational Profile Introduction to Occupational Therapy as Profession OT 501 Ryan Hogan One of the first things we do as an occupational therapist is to understand our patient. We perform what is know as an occupational profile. This detail profile is a set of questions that the occupational therapist will ask their new client to gain an understanding of their viewpoint and background. This profile is completed with the use of two main techniques. First the occupational therapist will ask the patient direct questions concerning them.
I am currently getting my bachelor’s degree in exercise science with an emphasis in physical education. Eventually, I want to go into occupational therapy (OT) as an occupational therapy assistant (OTA). OT involves helping people of all ages participate in everyday activities. The assistant is the one who works one on one with the patients instead of administrative work (“About Occupational Therapy, 2017). I felt that an exercise science major coincided with well with OT since it fulfilled a lot of the prerequisites. Kinesiology was one class that caught my eye. I did not really know what kinesiology was or what the class would entail. Throughout the course of the semester, I learned that what we learned and did in class closely relates to
Pediatrics in the field of occupational therapy is the development of child over time. A pediatric occupational therapist work with children, infants, toddlers, and everyone from ages 0-21 who are diagnosed with autism, hemiplegia, stroke, cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injuries, down syndrome, and other medical conditions to participate in daily life activities or occupations. For a child, their occupation can be referring to developmentally appropriate activities that support their health, well-being, and development of an individual such as facilitating movement to sit, crawl, eat, bath, drink, wash, or dress and walk independently. Pediatrics in occupational therapy work under hospitals, rehabilitations, private practice, school systems, home health services, mental health care, early intervention facilities, and both inpatient and outpatient centers. While working with the children’s in the facilities, therapist aim at the big performance areas and they work with their families, peers, parents/primary caregivers, and teachers to endorse active participation in activities or occupations that are meaningful to them.
Occupational therapy literature indicates various strategies for developing successful service-learning courses for students along with the benefits of the service-learning pedagogy (Bazyk, Glorioso, Gordon, Haines, & Percaciante, 2010; Butin, 2005; Cauley et al., 2001; Flecky, & Gitlow, 2010; Hansen, 2013; Hoppes, Bender, & DeGrace, 2005; Kearney, 2008; Maloney, Myers, & Bazyk, 2014; Vroman, Simmons, & Knight, 2010;Witchger, 2013). Educators challenge their students to not only be good students in the classroom but to demonstrate ideals of social and occupational justice through the service-learning experience. The experience allows students to face issues in the community such as inequities and injustices of health care (Hoppes, Bender, & Degrace, 2005).
By both working to prevent further disability using rehabilitation techniques and providing compensatory strategies and equipment to clients, OTs can help people living with arthritis maximize their independence and participation. Examples of this can include specialized kitchen equipment to account for limited mobility in the hand and wrist, teaching new strategies for self-care when showering and going to the washroom, and making specialized splints to manage symptoms and increase function. Another important area that OTs address is the secondary disabilities that often accompany chronic conditions, such as depression, joblessness, and difficulties in interpersonal relationships. For example, an OT might help someone living with arthritis who is finding it difficult to carry out his/her day to day tasks without getting exhausted due to pain and depression by teaching them energy conservation strategies and helping them make their tasks less taxing by optimizing their body mechanics and the ergonomics of their work
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If you are about to move into a new place, you are probably wondering how in the world you ended up with such a load of belongings and what to do with all of them. Some may have been long forgotten under a thick layer of dust in the attic, others you may have stored because “some day” they might come in handy. You are already looking for reasons to keep that old dress you have put on just once or twice in the past couple of years. What about the antique clock reminiscent of the previous century? You can’t get rid of it just like that, it has a sentimental value to you... there has to be a way of sorting your possessions so that the moving doesn’t turn into a disaster or a