OT in Progress

Social determinants of health are the different aspects of our lives that affect our health. These things can consist of socioeconomic status, level/quality of education, and employment. Additionally, in the TED Talk from Rishi Manchanda, he kept mentioning how where we live, work, and play can affect our health. These are the areas we spend most of our lives in, so he describes how important it can be to assess these things and how they affect our overall health and quality of life. Manchanda continues by saying there is a need for “upstream” workers that can address health issues from where they arise instead of strictly just treating the ailment. I think this is more of a holistic approach and relates a lot to the roles of an occupational therapist. Our nervous system can be affected in many different ways due to the social determinants of health that we may face. Having different health conditions, especially not knowing what they are, and being in and out of doctor’s offices...

Assistive devices can be really important and useful for a client who wished to increase their functioning and independence in their day to day lives. Additionally, fitting your client for these assistive devices is also really important. Making the right adjustments and adaptions to the assistive devices your client may use helps ensure their safety and stability to make sure that there is no risk of them injuring themselves further. Another reason to make sure they are properly fitted is so that the client is comfortable. One way to appropriately fit a client for a cane is to make sure the hand grip of the cane is level with the ulnar styloid process, the wrist crease, or the greater trochanter of the client. The OT would want to make sure that the client’s elbow and shoulders are relaxed (not elevated) when holding the cane and their elbow will be flexed between 20-30 degrees. For axillary crutches, in addition to the same guidelines as the cane above, the OT should ensure...

The hierarchy for restoring confidence in mobility based on activity demands (easiest to hardest) is as follows: bed mobility, mat transfer, wheelchair transfer, bed transfer, functional ambulation for ADLs, toilet and tub transfer, car transfer, functional ambulation for community   mobility, and community mobility and driving. Based on my previous observations from shadowing and interning, plus the knowledge I have gained during my time as an OT student, this order does not surprise me. As we go through the list, the activities become more demanding and require more complex movements. It makes sense to start at restoring the simplest level of function in bed mobility and transfers and eventually making your way to the most complex, which is driving. During my observations at an inpatient rehab hospital, I was able to see this hierarchy in effect and why it is important. The therapist must ensure the clients’ confidence and safety with easier activity demands before introducin...