Occupational Engagement

Please explain how psychosocial factors have influenced your clients' ability to engage in occupations during treatment.

To be able to participate in one 's own life, to do the things we want to do, and to competently perform the activities that form part of our daily, weekly or monthly routines, is a common goal for most people.  This not only includes taking part in the basic activities of self-care, such as grooming and dressing, but also extends to our work and leisure activities.  It is through doing things that we learn and develop as human beings.  The occupational therapy profession believes that being prevented or hindered in some way from participating in the activities that are important to us could adversely affect our health and wellbeing.

Alzheimer and depression effects an individuals’ occupations, independence and self worth, this will be the aim and focus of the following discussion. This discussion will explore the functions and disability of this scenario which includes, the primary body systems involved in Alzheimer 's and depression including the structure’s and function’s. Then, how Lee’s (2003) occupations across the three areas of productivity, self care and leisure are affected. Furthermore, it will also explore the context of this scenario, which includes the environmental and personal factors.

Running increases blood flow to the brain including the hippocampus, the key area affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

Along with varying music to achieve different beneficial results from Alzheimer’s patients, there are many different activities that can help engage and improve the mental state of patients with Alzheimer’s from the early stages of the disease’s

Despite the number of lives Alzheimer’s disease has affected, it cannot be cured. An estimated five million Americans are affected by this disease (“Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet”); treatment trials are being conducted in addition to extensive research to learn more about lifestyle choices to support brain health. As a result, researchers are beginning to find ways to prevent this disease. Lifestyle choices including physical activity, social engagement, obtaining a healthy diet, and receiving a good night’s sleep may help counteract Alzheimer’s disease and support brain health. Although an innumerable amount of people across the United States are affected by Alzheimer's disease, it can be prevented.

Due to the inconsistency between studies there is no definitive exercise dosage or type that can aid in protection against dementia. However, from the evidence provided it suggests that higher levels of exercise can be used as a neuroprotective mechanism to prevent the onset of

Little information is known about the use of treadmill running to attenuate or reverse the cognitive decline due to Alzheimer Disease. The study reviewed in this paper by Jinkyung et. al set out to determine if exercise can prevent cognitive decline in the early and late stages of Alzheimer Disease. Benefits to using exercise as a non-pharmacological method of offsetting the effects of this disease include little to no side effects for the patient; low cost to patient and health care system; exercise may have a preventative factor to Alzheimer Disease, unlike pharmacological treatments. Previous studies have reviewed voluntary wheel running in triple transgenic mice (3xTG-AD), the current study is the first to examine the effects of treadmill running in the 3xTG-AD mice.

At the clinic, patients with Alzheimer’s Disease undergo a series of brain exercises that are used to stimulate the brain in the areas of memory and personality for two weeks at a time. After stimulating the parts of the brain that had previously deteriorated, some patients have begun to participate in activities or recall memories they had not been able to in a very long time. For example, some patients began to drive, bake, and remember their grandchildren’s name. The goal of this clinic is to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s so the patients can communicate and live a functioning life as long as possible. After partaking in the brain exercises, it is crucial for patients to continue to use their brain by thinking and talking about

First, learning activity analysis addressing any assists me in knowing the skills required so I can find out how I can remediate cognitive and/or physical limitations of the patient to achieve the goals. Then, tailoring the intervention through client-centered occupation-based strategies really allows me to look at patients as individual rather than as a general disability. Also, it is important to note how the Model of Human Occupation can be used as a guide to use volition, habituation and performance capacity to reach the patient through intervention. Finally, the Car Fit training allowed me to learn how to educate older adults on safety guidelines for use of their

Out of the rapidly inclining population in the world, there are people who develop dementia every 66 seconds(“2016 Alzheimer’s Disease”). Being such a common disease in the elderly, there are 47.5 million people in the world with this disease(“2016 Alzheimer’s Disease”). Once families start to realize that their parents and grandparents have developed this, they start to wonder if they are able to live on their own. Within a few months, a decision is made whether if it is best for them to be put into a nursing home. Most often, those with dementia do happen to end up in nursing homes. Many wonder if being put into a nursing home will actually cause their dementia and their ability to live on their own to worsen. With the effects of activities, this could change. Activities help slow the deterioration of the brain(Smith). The activities and exercises performed by nursing homes to help improve the overall cognitive development in dementia patients. Nursing homes should induct purposeful daily activities to improve cognitive, social, and psychological development in dementia care

However their performance might change overtime as well, these activities of daily living are actualized in the Shelly Beach Lodge, Dementia Care Facility which helps in the progress of the disease and become challenging in the later stages as well. As per www.dementiacarecentral.com/caregiverinfo/handsoncare, Alzheimer’s Association retrieved on 2009 and J Am Geriatr Soc. 1999 Oct;47(10):1183-6. Retrieved March 31,

physical exercise is a cornerstone in the management of many neurodegenerative disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson, Alzheimer, and Huntington.

The purpose of the study by (Colcombe & Kramer, 2003) was to examine whether or not an aerobic fitness training enhances perceptual, cognitive and motor processes in healthy but inactive older adults. They discussed that through animal studies, researchers have found a positive correlation between aerobic

The Erikson et al. article supports the idea that physical exercise helps the brain by improving memory and the size of the hippocampus. Erikson and his colleagues suggested in their study that physical exercise increases the retention of information and improves learning capabilities. The way they measured this was by studying the increased or decreased size of the subject’s hippocampus and levels of BDNF. The control group in this experiment completed stretching/toning exercises while the experimental group did aerobic exercise; the experimental group ended up having a larger hippocampus volume than when starting out, as well as higher levels of BDNF; the