OT 425 Documentation Blog Post #4

Last Thursday, we learned about OT documentation. The goal of documentation is to provide enough information to ensure that our OT services are administered in the most effective way. It is important to be nonjudgmental when documenting and to think about the family and other individuals who could be reading it.

Goal writing is also a big piece of documentation. It is important to begin with the end in mind. There are short term goals and long term goals. Short term goals describe what the client will do in around 30 days to 2 weeks. These goals change during intervention and typically will relate to skill building. Short term goals can be thought of as the little goals that lead to occupational performance. On the other hand, long term goals are the goals that identify what the client will do by the time of discharge from OT. These goals usually relate to occupation and function.

As an OT, documentation is a big part of occupational therapy. It will be necessary for the goals to be written using verbs that are active instead of passive. Goals must also be able to be measured and have a time limit. When I took an undergrad class called Therapeutic Recreation in Public Schools, we had to write IEPs and progress reports for the students we worked with. With these reports, goals, and objectives, we had to use active verbs as well. Having some experience will hopefully help me in the future with using these verbs and documenting.

OT Process OT 425 Blog Post #3

Today in Foundations, we discussed the process of OT. The process of OT is dynamic and involves evaluation, intervention, and outcomes. The evaluation process of OT begins with the referral and involves screening and the occupational profile. The intervention process includes planning the intervention and actually implementing the intervention. The outcome part of the process involves looking at progress and changes made.

Some important tips that we learned during today's class that will help in the future as an OT are:

• The interview process is the most important part of the evaluation. This is the part of the process where you find out the client's biggest priorities, their problems, and their concerns.
• Never leave anything blank on documentation papers! If it is blank, it will be seen as incomplete.
• The client's plan of care must be measurable, occupation-centered, and client-centered.
• Intervention should include purposeful activities. It is also important to explain WHY the client is participating in a certain activity. Intervention should include collaboration with the client.
• The OT process should involve the caregiver/family of the client.
• It is important to provide the just right challenge for clients- not too hard, not too easy

As an OT student, this information is really how we will be performing in our profession. These tips will be incredibly useful as an OT practitioner and really set OT apart from other professions. It makes me excited to learn about the process behind OT!

Health promotion, literacy, and prevention OT 425 Blog Post #2

Today in foundations, we discussed the concepts of health, promoting health, health literacy, and prevention. As a kinesiology major in undergrad, I am interested in wellness and health. One health promotion topic that we learned about in undergrad was Exercise is Medicine. I hope to somehow/ some way be able to incorporate some of these views/this concept into my therapy in the future. Also, it is important to remember to consider all of the health determinants when working with individuals. Health is just not about not having a disease. Health includes physical, social, and emotional aspects of an individual as well.

In addition, we learned about health literacy. It was sad to watch the videos in which some individuals would not even have above an elementary school reading level. It is important to remember to use audiovisuals and to make sure that the clients fully understand what you are saying and what their treatment will entail. It was disheartening to hear that a client had a hysterectomy without even knowing what it was. In addition, one client even didn't understand what "take a pill twice daily" meant, and she took two pills at one time. I hope that as health professionals, we can be mindful of health literacy.

Brain Cancer and Brain Injury OT 537

     The preparatory materials for OT 537 were both emotional and eye-opening. The podcast we listened to involved a nurse who was injured on the job by a client. The podcast discussed the woman's injury, as well as the family's perspective. Some of the hardest things for me to hear included the children saying that they weren't sure if they would get their mother back, her husband saying that he wouldn't marry the woman she was today, and the wife's perspective believing that her husband was only staying with her for pity. As an occupational therapist, it is important to not only meet your client's needs, but also to help the family and caregivers of the client. In addition, the blog post we read makes you realize how precious life is, and just how important it is to understand the needs of the client/ family, develop a therapeutic relationship with your clients, and extend the relationship past treatment (i.e. following up when you say you will).  It is important to step into their shoes and be empathetic. I believe (and hope) that all of these real life examples will help me to provide better, holistic care for my clients. In addition, the video we watched at the beginning of class really left an impact on me. It is important to remember that you never know what is happening in someone's life.

Universal Design and Occupational Adaptation Blog Post #1

Yesterday in foundations, we discussed the last few OT theories. I was particularly interested in the theory of occupational adaptation. It is so particularly important to realize how much one’s thinking can cause an adaptation in a person. When you increase a client’s adaptation, you will increase their ability to actively participate in their occupations. The main goal is to improve a person’s ability to adapt. The video about the individual who completed the ironman was so inspirational. I have completed a triathlon before, and I cannot imagine doing an ironman! It was so incredible to see how the individual’s mindset was such a huge factor in adapting and creating this new role. I hope to be able to influence my client's to have a positive attitude and to make the most of every situation that they are faced with.

            In addition, universal design was particularly interesting to learn about. I never realized that there was a difference in accessibility and universal design. Universal design is so important and involves EVERY individual- disability or no disability. Accessibility is geared towards people who need extra help or assistance. As a society, we should be more aware of universal design and try to make our world easy for everyone to use and live in.

Response to Ted Talk-Aimee Mullins

     The Ted Talk by Aimee Mullin's was extremely inspirational and important to watch as a student becoming a health care professional in the future.  I have never looked up the definition of "disabled" in the dictionary, and I was shocked to find some of the adjectives that were used to describe the word. It was disheartening to hear that these words are being used to describe someone with a disability.  These words limit the person to their disability, and I found it hard to believe that some of the words used were still used recently in this time period. Aimee discussed how she was thankful that she did not see these definitions when she was younger. Instead, her doctor told her that she was strong and powerful. She discusses that those words could have influenced who she is today. It makes you realize how big of an impact words can have on an individual, no matter the age.

      As an occupational therapy student, it is important to remember that a disability does not describe a person. A person is a person; not a condition. I wish that this could somehow be portrayed in the definition of "disabled" as well as using other words and person-first language. Like Aimee Mullins discussed, everyone faces challenges and adversity. The key is how a person is able to adapt.

     In addition, I thought it was really cool that Aimee's doctor gave her a "clinical carrot" during her physical therapy session. She talked about how she dreaded going to physical therapy sessions. One day, during the session, her doctor came in and said that he would give her $100 if she could break the band she was using to strengthen her muscles. She discussed that this gave her a new goal for her therapy, and it seems that it made her therapy sessions a little less dreadful. This is important to remember as an OT to be. Motivation is important in a client's occupational performance, and it is a key for occupational therapy.

Session 6D OT Theory

After reading the article, "Putting OT Theory Into Action: Knowing and Applying Frames of Reference", written by Lynne Oberle, it is clear just how important learning and knowing about occupational therapy theories is. Not only is it important to understand them, it is important to be able to use them in our treatments. I was extremely shocked to read that when one of the OTs was assessing the client, Ann, they failed to approach her interventions with OT think, or a holistic view. However, when a situation is assessed using one of the OT models of practice, the PEO model for example, it requires looking at the client in a holistic view. It will be important to assess the person, environment, occupation, and look at how these concepts affect occupational performance.

In our foundations class, we learned about OT theory. Theory guides our practice and consists of models of practice and frames of reference. One interesting theory that I think can apply to many situations, like the case study in the article, is the Person-Environment-Occupation model. This model considers the person, environment, and occupation of the individual. It requires the balance of these three concepts, and an OT could help adjust aspects of the concepts to help adjust the occupational performance.