OT: Create - Motivate - Inspire

     One rotation of my observations in undergrad was with an occupational therapist who worked primarily in acute care at the local hospital in the city that I was in school. One of the first things that I noticed while shadowing in acute care is that the hospital is all about efficiency. They try to send patients home or to another facility as quickly as possible. Essentially, if the person is stable (even right after surgery), they are already discussing with the client and their family about the next steps for rehabilitation outside of the acute floor. It also really surprised me that we would go visit a client for therapy even the same day after they had undergone surgery just to get them moving a little bit. The clients that we visited came from all kinds of backgrounds and had numerous types of surgeries or diagnoses which made acute care very interesting and fresh. The sphere of practice was mostly biological, although I do feel like there were some patients that ...

     One activity that I chose that really made me think was the TED Talk by Michael Nesmith in regards to the concept of universal design. His main point was encouraging everyone to use and push forward this concept of "universal design" which he defined as "the design of products and environments to be useable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design". This concept is so relevant to me as a future occupational therapist where our mindset is not on the disability but on people as a whole. Occupational therapists seek to eliminate barriers to allow people to live the life they desire including participating in any activity they may enjoy.          Additionally I listened to the "Au-Some Swimmers" podcast which was very interesting! I have never really thought about the large need of the role of OTs in helping children on the autism spectrum learn how to swim. I liked how they addressed ...

The OTPF is the framework for the profession of occupational therapy. It first describes what occupations are. These include activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (iADLs), play and leisure, work, education, rest and sleep, and social interaction. Additionally it is broken down into subsections. The first includes client factors which are things that are really important to the client including spirituality, beliefs, body functions, and body structures. Next is the performance skills which include social participation, motor and cognitive skills. After that is the performance patterns which are the habits, rituals, roles, and routines that we participate in on a daily basis. The final subcategory is the context and environment. This essentially means where our occupations take place and the context that they occur (which includes cultural, personal, physical, social, temporal and virtual aspects surrounding our occupations). By examining all of the ...

     Based on the information presented in the era presentations, I found a common theme among all of the decades- that the field of occupational therapy has and will continue to evolve. Over the last few decades, occupational therapy has not only grown as a profession, but it has accommodated the ever changing needs of society. Especially post-war and after the deinstitutionalization movement began, there became a growing need to accommodate individuals living with both physical and psychological disabilities. Looking into the future, I can foresee the field of occupational therapy continuing to adapt to changes in society as it has done since the beginning. Our society has more access to adaptive technology than ever before. Additionally, the baby boomers are starting to age and retire while the younger generation is suffering more from psychological issues. This will also shape what occupational therapy will look like in the future.

Out of the board certifications available through AOTA (gerontology, mental health, pediatrics, and physical rehabilitation), I think at the moment I am most interested in the pediatric certification. I have always had a passion for working with children. After observing many hours in a hospital  pediatric outpatient clinic, I fell in love with the services that were provided and the interventions used with the kids. While it is undoubtedly hard work practicing in pediatrics, I believe there is so much reward that goes along with seeing the positive effects of early intervention. I have also become increasingly interested in the potential benefits of incorporating animal-assisted therapy into treatment session, so I would also consider obtaining the Certified Hippotherapy Clinical Specialist certification. This requires at least 3 years of experience practicing occupational therapy and experience riding horses. It also requires at least 100 hours of direct treatment in hippothera...

Sharp Rise in Occupational Therapy Cases at New York’s Schools      The New York Times has over one million subscribers both digitally and in print. With this being said, it encourages me to see articles pertaining to occupational therapy (OT) within this major newspaper! One of the goals as an occupational therapist includes advocacy-for the profession and services that is provides.      This article does a wonderful job of expressing the broad and ever-growing nature of occupational therapy. The services that are provided extend to many different populations and needs. According to the article, New York city schools have seen a 30% increase in the number of referrals for occupational therapy. This trend is also seen in many other cities across the United States. In fact, the need for occupational therapy services is growing at such a rapid rate, there is a nation-wide shortage of occupational therapists to fill these openings. The article cites an inc...