brOT 101

Today during class, we had with a guest lecturer who was an expert in the field of Driver rehabilitation. He provided very useful information on assessing and adapting the occupation of driving. One of the key takeaway points during today's lecture was that visual skills are a vital component to the occupation of driving. Within vision there are components such as Acuity and perception. Other skills associated with driving are cognition and active ROM. Driving requires a constant state of reacting to your environment and skills such as cognition and active ROM help an individual in their reaction. All of these components are what a driving specialist analyzes and keeps in constant consideration as they interact with a client. One intervention that can be done with clients in a driving rehabilitation setting is working on scheduling and planning times of the day when the individual may be driving. For instance doctor's appointments or visiting with friends can be scheduled durin...

Over the course of OT school, I had the opportunity to draw a glyph based on my perceptions of leadership from the beginning of school to current. The picture on top was the drawing I made at the beginning of my schooling and the bottom is the one that was drawn as a second year. When I first saw the two pictures, I was surprised at the similarities that were occurring between the two pictures. Each component of the drawing held a different significance and some of the major differences were the hair, eye brows, and ears. In the first picture, the was the length and curliness of the hair. The curliness of the hair showed a need for creativity in leadership as opposed to the straight organization factor in leadership. I think my opinions on this have changed as I have seen the importance of both organization and creativity in a leader. Another major component in the picture that showed change was the shape of the ears. Round ears showed that technology was an important component of le...

Today I was able to participate in a lecture that provided me with an opportunity to see the importance of nutrition in its relation to patient care and therapy intervention. One startling statistic that was addressed over the course of this lecture was that 1 in 2 older adults is malnourished. That is half of all of these individuals that are entering the hospital. Patient nourishment is important for many aspects of an individual's hospital stay including wound healing and prevention of muscle wasting over the course of their stay. This is not to mention the significant nutrition needed to sustain the increased metabolism of the stressed body and needs of the body as it goes into rehabilitation. As the importance of nutrition in an older adults hospital stay was revealed, the follow up question is what does this mean for me as an occupational therapist. One possible intervention that could take place to address the issue of nutrition is a support group and cooking class for widow...

For this blog, I was searching for a story that would help me to realize the central theme of OT in a manner that didn't seem corny or cliche. I chose this episode of On The air because it gave a unique story of someone who could personally and professionally identify with occupational therapy.  I was able to listen and learn about an OT, Danielle Watson, who had an experience being in a wheelchair. Her experience was even more unique because she participated in her OT education while maintaining her status in her wheelchair. As I was listening to this podcast, I came to the realization that the whole process that she went to in order to get into OT school was really an entire OT story. Following the story of her injury, she began to discuss the process of applying for physical therapy school and being denied the opportunity because the programs felt that they were not conducive to her injury. Then came occupational therapy. I personally believe that it applies very much so to OT t...

In our class, we had an opportunity to simulate a patient encounter in which we performed the SLUMS cognitive test on an actor in the SIM Lab. Over all I would rate myself as doing good. There were several aspects that I remember that I did not do, such as asking the client if they knew what OT was and also beginning the test by asking if they had problems with their memory. Other than these few stumbles on getting started, I was able to settle in and accurately conduct the test and I feel like I was able to make the client feel as though it was a personable environment. As far as conducting the main questions on the test, I was able to sufficiently go through the exam with more than enough time left before the 10 minutes was concluded. I am most proud of myself for providing an welcoming environment for the client. I felt as though the client was comfortable and it didn't seem as though it was an awkward experience. The only area in which I struggled during the encounter was at th...

It's a weird title but a simple concept. Button Brainz is a game that I designed for a Neurological Aspects class. We were given an object, and told that we must design a game geared towards our client to help them achieve their goals. The result was an OT collaborative project that allowed me to express creativity through very simple means.   In designing Button Brainz, my biggest take-away was not to let the creativity of the design outshine the needs of the client. The first design that I thought of was to have Barbara sew the buttons on to a piece of fabric in the order of the card. However, after further reflection, I found that this method would not be best due to the amount of time it would take her to sew the buttons. Although it would have been client centered in her interests, it would not have been client centered in her functional ability.  In fact, I was able to realize that using the buttons in general is an effective way to engage Barbara's sewing interest....

Motivation is a component within humans that gives us a reason why we are doing what we do. There are many aspects to motivation and in order for individuals to achieve goals, they must know what their motivation is. This motivation can be for the cause of other or self and can change over time as our desires are matured. Motivation is particularly important to occupational therapy because our whole practice is centered around achieving the answer to the following question: How do we get you back to doing what is meaningful to you? In the article, Anything is Possible, we find a young woman who has a passion for diving. The particular reason why this article caught my attention is that there is a unique component to her current diving situation. She sustained an injury in which she accumulated quadriplegia. The beginning of this article highlights Elizabeth Frost as an avid diver who travels all over the world scuba diving and is well on her way to earning a prestigious certification...