Student Blog
What’s OT? ⟩
October 4, 2012, by Ricky
Let’s face it. Occupational Therapy can be challenging to define. OT does so much for so many people, and it’s tough to describe it all in just a few words. Although it retains some key elements, my definition seems to be influenced almost every time I hear a fresh rendition (and that happens quite often). It’s almost like an unfinished work art . . . well not really; maybe I’m just a perfectionist, hehe. Anyhow, since I do hear some really good ones quite often, I have decided that I will be sharing them with ya’ll, going forward. Here’s the standard, to get us started.
In its simplest terms, occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants help people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations) — aota.org/consumers.aspx
Occupational Therapy is a health care profession aimed at improving performance, preventing illness and disability, and promoting adaptation to life changes — chan.usc.edu/about-us/occupational-therapy
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OTs go to war ⟩
October 3, 2012, by Kendra
I’ve been thinking about the roots of occupational therapy lately. In my last post I talked about the Mental Hygiene movement and how OTs helped people with mental illness. Another area of practice critical to our development as a field was helping wound warriors and returning vets get back to life after WWII.
In WWII huge advances were made in rehabilitative care, mainly due to the fact that the nation was not prepared to treat all of the wounded veterans and people had to quickly and creatively develop methods to help our soldiers find jobs and assimilate back into their role as husband, son, and brother. OTs were perfectly placed to use occupation to help veterans returning home.
Flash forward to today and one would think OTs would, yet again, be at the forefront of care for our warriors, but in an information session held for prospective OTs, we had a soldier wanting to become an OT who said than in her two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan she met only one occupational therapist. ONLY ONE!
But we are making baby steps. There is a program offered for wounded warriors in LA in which they deal with PTSD in a supportive community environment via ocean therapy. Guess who started it, a USC OT grad.
And we need more OTs getting in there not just when the soldiers return home but when they return from battle. Think of the amazing work OTs could do with soldiers IN Iraq and IN Afghanistan. We could lead groups for people to explore their war experience while performing a calming occupation like playing an instrument or painting a canvas. OTs could be a part of nation building projects and work with local people to build gardens, homes, and schools. One of my favorite things about occupational therapy is that we can work anywhere with every population, we just have to fill the gap with occupation!
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Getting To Know Our Fellow Students ⟩
October 2, 2012, by Amber
The Occupational Therapy and Science Council (OTSC) is a student organization that focuses on social interaction and helping USC OT students to achieve the work-life balance that we know is so important. The purpose of OTSC is threefold: 1) to represent student interests within our division and the university as a whole, 2) to provide opportunities to network and socialize, and 3) to create volunteer and fundraising opportunities. At the beginning of the semester we elected a new council. Our first event of the semester was a tailgate in conjunction with the Physical Therapy department. This weekend, we had a bonfire at the beach for the purpose of introducing the new students to the rest of the class. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, played games, and got to know each other. Leave me a comment if you have any great bonfire or campfire experiences!
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Rancho Los Amigos ⟩
October 1, 2012, by Paula
Last week for our Adult Rehabilitation course, we had the opportunity to visit Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, CA. Rancho first began serving in rehabilitation services in 1888 and has since been a nationally known and respected facility which leads practice in rehabilitation. Lucky for us, Rancho has been affiliated with USC since 1972 and we are able to fully appreciate this relationship as students of the program here. Rancho provides and excels in rehabilitation services with directed focus on the needs of an individual who has experienced a stroke, brain injury or spinal cord injury, as well as services in pediatric, orthopedic, amputee and outpatient rehabilitation. Beyond these rehabilitation programs, Rancho also provides has many innovative patient programs which promote self-esteem and involvement including art programs, performing arts, wheelchair sports, horseback riding, fashion shows, and many more.
One of the main facilities we had a chance to see was The Center for Applied Rehabilitation Technology (CART). CART began in 1989, and utilized advanced technology to provide assistance to individuals with physical disabilities. This program employs a team of physical, speech, occupational, and recreation therapists and engineers to evaluate and provide assistive technology to clients in order to enable them to lead more independent lives. On our tour, we were able to see different assistive technology from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) used for individuals with speech impairments to the full Model Home which is completely decked out with modifications and assistive technology to display the true potential of Universal Design. The functional yet subtle changes to the environment which can enable an individual in his or her own home to practice more independence were abundant and being surrounded by it all made me realize that the possibilities truly are endless.
To end the afternoon, we visited the Rancho Driver Evaluation and Training Program which provides clients throughout the age-range who wish to return to driving. The program enables clients through simulation exercises, education and preparation for DMV procedures and also consultation pertaining to vehicle modifications. We were lucky enough to hear from Jay Cramer, an actor, a comedian and a part of the Rancho family. Jay sustained a spinal cord injury while bouldering in 2006 and became a patient at Rancho where he later met his wife. Jay showed us the modifications to his van with his service dog, Goliath, while he shared with us his view of life after his injury saying that he has experienced more now than he ever had before. His attitude, his humor and his enthusiasm for life was so refreshing. I encourage you all to read more about his story!
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My first day of fieldwork ⟩
October 1, 2012, by Kendra
I began my mental health fieldwork this week at AF Hawkins, the LA county psychiatric hospital. OTs got their start working with people with mental illness during the Progressive era in the early 20th century, but in an effort to define ourselves more medically, a lot of the arts and crafts aspect of our work was put aside for biomechanics and diagnostics. And here I was going back to our roots.
But while prepping for my first day I became very nervous reading about ‘arm’s length’ rules and ‘locked wards’ and ‘involuntary commitment.’ So despite my desire to be open minded and calm about working in a psychiatric hospital, my mind was filled with media images of bars and vacant eyes and inhumane conditions. What I saw was very very different.
Yes the doors are locked and yes you must take certain precautions to ensure yours and the patient’s safety. But what I didn’t predict was the sincerity and kindness with which the practitioners treat their patients. I didn’t imagine the laughter of adolescents echoing through the halls. So much of what I’d heard about psychiatric inpatient care was regarding role strain and the way therapists and nurses have to ‘turn off’ their emotions in order to deal with the weight of working with so many sick people. When I talked to the OTs at AFH many have worked there for over 15 years and every one I spoke to loved their job and the work they do. What is it about this place that makes the relationship between therapist and patient so effective?
Introducing the Cognitive Disabilities Model. It was created by Claudia Allen in an effort to properly pair a person’s cognitive functioning with appropriate activities. People’s cognition is rated on a 1.0–6.0 scale as are certain crafts. What this allows the OT to do is then offer activities (e.g., a greeting card or a tiled box) that properly match what the person can actually do therefore increasing the likelihood of success and satisfaction in performing that occupation. There are a lot more details that go into than that, but it works. I see OTs that know their role in the hospital and know how to help people on an individualized basis. That is the most important part, at least to me, because what they are doing is preventing the glossed over effect in which practitioners fall into the trap as viewing every person with one diagnosis as the same. They see everyone differently and suit their treatment to meet their specific needs, so OT!
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