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Occupational Therapy Analysis

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The lack of technology in the past has left multiple stroke patients struggling with physical and mental impairments. However, due to the constant change and improvements made to technology, patients are now getting more help with their physical and mental needs. Nowadays, the odds of a patient gaining full function and ability back after a traumatic brain injury are much more favorable than not. Advanced technology such as robotic gloves, interactive video games, and electrical stimulators are effective tools in the treatment of strokes because they stimulate the brain to help regain ability and motor functions. When hearing the word stroke many people think of a traumatic event, but they don’t actually know what one is. According to WebMD, …show more content…

This type of therapy is one that many people have never heard of, and therefore, do not recognize what it can do to help stroke patients. WebMD explains that occupational therapy helps make sure that an individual is capable of doing everyday tasks (Beckman). As a result, therapists who specialize in this field are more likely to use the glove to help their patients. Stephen H. Scott and Sean P. Dukelow express in their article “Potential of Robots as Next-Generation Technology for Clinical Assessment of Neurological Disorders and Upper-Limb Therapy” that doing exercises such as moving cups from one end of a table to another or picking up a pen and holding it in a writing position help to reteach the brain that these are normal functions and the hand should be able to move in these ways on its own (339). For example, using the glove allows patients to get a firmer grasp on objects such as a cup or a pen. Allowing patients to use the glove prompts the brain by sending a message and making a connection that the hand should be able to operate on its own in these ways. It also lets the brain know how the hand muscles are supposed to move and how they should react when presented with different tasks. According to an article titled “Robotic Device Offers Physiotherapy to Aid the Recovery of Stroke Patients,” “Stroke patients showed improvements after eight weeks of use” (6). …show more content…

Physical therapists use techniques that help their patients with their ability to move, restore their function, and prevent possible disabilities. There are several different game consoles available for these therapists to use in their treatments. With motion sensors that are included in many different gaming consoles, patients can now actually get up and do physical activity with the game. In fact, there are newly developed devices that have been proven to help with physical therapy. The book Video Games (Compact Research: Current Issues) reveals that there is a treatment program called “Wii-hab” that they have named after the Nintendo’s Wii video gaming system. It claims “the Wii-hab program has helped patients regain the ability to move so they are able to wash their faces, brush their teeth, get in and out of chairs, and start a car” (Parks 56). As a result, interactive video games open several doors for patients because they prompt the brain and trigger senses that relate back to how muscles are supposed to

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