Occupational Therapy Gerontological Gems #929191

Yet again I'm putting off my OT-Aging in Place post, but instead I'll post a few things I learned the other day from our guest lecturer (as always I'm just an occupational therapy student and easily misunderstand, take things I say with a grain of salt). I have many more to share but I'll give you just four gems today to draw out the pleasure!! I just jotted down what I found most interesting during her lecture so I could share it here.

Ever heard someone say “He only hears what he wants to hear?”. Most people say that when, for example, you talk loudly to Grandpa and he doesn't listen, but then you whisper about him and he hears you. To the average person that is a sign that he just only pays selective attention. Well, we found out from our speaker that in fact, older people tend to lose their higher pitches first – so talking loudly may not register if you have a higher voice – yet when you whisper you have to drop your pitch and therefore the person may hear you.

Trombone arm: nursing home vernacular for a person with presbyopia (far-sighted) who keeps holding a piece of paper in front of them at varying lengths to try and read it

“Nursing home hot” = term for a really hot room, referring to how older people prefer hot rooms due to their loss of thermoregulation. I can vouch that my grandmother has this. When we visited her this summer and her thermostat was messed up, it was almost 90 degrees in her house, and I had to get up multiple times during the night to pour cold water on myself.

A good activity of daily life (which is an area of occupation) to work on with older people includes dental hygiene, such as brushing and flossing- the lecturer's dentist always says “only brush teeth you want to keep”, and since old people are susceptible to receding gumlines, dental hygiene is crucial to prevent a host of problems.

Forbes betrays OTs everywhere…

  Wow. I found this randomly from Forbes.com…a nice (older) article that I am only copying a part of, but look at the definition of OT “training to do simple things around the house” –

 AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FORBES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU BETRAY OUR PROFESSION WITH SUCH A HORRIBLE DEFINITION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FEEL ANYEURISMS POPPING UP ALL OVER! SEE I CANT EVEN SPELL ANYERUISMS I AM IN SUCH DISTRESSSSSSSS!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Occupational Therapy Helps Those With Dementia
11.16.06, 12:00 AM ET THURSDAY, Nov. 16 (HealthDay News) — Occupational therapy — training to do simple things around the house — improved the lives of people with dementia such as Alzheimer's disease, as well as the people who care for them, a Dutch study found.

Check up on "Mobility and the Quadriplegic Child" over at Ryn Tales…great post

Ryn over at Ryn Tales has a beautiful daughter, Ellie, who has CP. They just took her on a trip abroad and it was quite difficult to manage. She wrote a great post titled “Mobility and the Quadriplegic Child” with a lot of great comments/questions.
Here is an excerpt from her post:

Please check it out. http://ryntales.blogspot.com/

We have also heard that if you bring a person on board in their wheelchair they are expected to stay in it the entire trip. God I hope that is not true as Ellie would need to stretch out after a short time sitting. If anyone in a wheelchair is reading this and has flow – please, I beg you, tell me how it works. Do you wheel on, get into your seat and then someone takes your chair? Do they leave it on the plane near you or do they check it below? What if you can’t ambulate, how do you go to the bathroom? Simple questions and I am so not joking because I need some perspective on how to transition from traveling with little baby Ellie to little long legged girl Ellie who will rapidly turn into teenage Ellie and so on if we are blessed.

You know you've been in OT school too long when…episode #2091

So I lied. I had to write one more little post before going to bed.

Scene: A few nights ago. Sitting on OTS Kerri & her husband Brent's couch. Watching some random show. It shows some rooms.

Kerri: Wow, that is really unacceptable. The floor needs to be a different color than the walls.

Me: Yeah, and look at those handrails. Pathetic.

Kerri: Those stairs need some more light.

Me: It's so monotone too. They need more colors to distinguish furniture from the walls.

Brent: Please. Stop.

*This was partially made-up since I forget our exact words, but we were definitely criticizing the room from an OT point of view, in terms of how it could be modified to better suit elderly people, based on a lecture we just had on aging in place and physiological aging changes in vision!

GOOD NIGHT!!

Young at heart…OT gerontological gems coming soon

I did a slurry of posts tonight and now I’m too tired to do my BIG one, the Aging in Place one! So…tomorrow! Reflect on this illusion in the meantime!

Turn your cell phones off in OT class…lol

Our superhero tech dude, Neal, drew this for me the day after my phone rang in class, last semester. I can’t remember if I’ve already posted it. Oh well!

I just graduated OT school…psyche

So…I graduated a year early due to my prodigious OT skills. The head of AOTA demanded it and I will be taking a job paying $2929292,929292,209991 a year.

Ok just kidding, but I had to pose for my graduation photo already, since I graduate in May 09 and will be on an out-of-town Level II fieldwork rotation by the time it is really time to take the picture. The purple sweater showing through was hidden in the real pictures. Whatever. Don’t judge me.

Views on OT students from person using OT services

I introduced Keith to you a while back, he is the one with arthrygryphosis (sp?) I’m too lazy to check right this second, or link the post, but maybe soon when I have a burst of OT blog inspiration. We’ve been exchanging e-mails and he gave me permission to share this tidbit. I’m glad he thinks favorably of us OT Students! Good thing for someone who works in a Center for Independent Living to think!

You asked about my impression of my OT student attendants and how much help I need. They’ve been great with me over the years; very dedicated, timely, and willing to perform various tasks. All have been females except one substitute. Typically, one will start with me in their sophomore or junior year. They’ll help me until they have a clinical, then they help find a replacement, which is a big stress reliever and saves a lot of time. They help me with lunch. If I have a sandwich or finger food, I can pick it up. If it’s a salad or something using utensils, they feed me.
After lunch, they straighten my desk, help me at the copier, or with other tasks. Finally, they help me in the bathroom. I stay in my chair and use a urinal, but can’t do any of that process myself. I hope that’s not too much information! Just wanted to share what an important job they have. I would not be able to work full time without them. Oh yeah, and they’re very organized. their calendars are color coded according to class, activity, etc. I even get my own color! Must be an OT thing.
Non-university attendants help me at home by getting me out of bed, doing ADLs, dinner, and putting me to bed, although my lunch people have filled in mornings.

I type with a mouthstick. I used to use DragonDictate voice recognition software, but found I can write just as quickly with the stick. The only problem is my neck gets tired after a while, like now, so I better go.

OT Reader catch-up w/ websites and or OT bloggy stuff

Suhaila – has an OT blog at http://occtherapy.hazmanaziz.com/blog/
You asked about degree conversion courses for diploma OT students. I’m not sure what you mean. Are you referring to going from a bachelor’s to a master’s? Or???

Diego – has a cool OT site with lots of information, including some info on Spanish-speaking places.
http://www.boletinto.cl/en/

Anonymous person who likes Vincent Lam – I’m reading it right now. It’s not quite what I expected. It’s rather odd. I guess I’ll write later once I’m done on my final thoughts – glad you enjoyed his interview and hopefully you will enjoy his books! Thanks for the comment! But don’t be anonymous, it makes me sad…

Tai Chi, Tai Chi, Tai Chi…OT, OT, OT

My research group had a meeting today on our Tai Chii study, and then we had a really interesting OT class on “physiological changes in aging” today by an RN/PhD, and then we had a Tai-Chi introduction by a very experienced Tai Chi instructor (who happened to be the lecturer as well). I plan to write TONS more because I jotted down a bunch of stuff to share, but I will be gone at social events most of the night, so just in case, I leave you with OTS Katy's pre-impression of Tai Chi. I wish I had a picture of her post-impression, but unfortunately Tai Chi training doesn't lend itself well to pictures since the flash/noise are distracting. Boo!! It was neat though.

I gotta rest my eyes – I just tried a light box for the first time (to combat SAD) and it caused some eyestrain. I stupidly stared STRAIGHT into the box as I turned it on for the first time, and I saw rows and rows of blue dots for like 10 minutes afterwards no matter what I looked at! You are only supposed to use it at your periphery, so at an angle. So. That was a long story to say bye for now but I have lots to share soon!! Gerontological gems once again yo!