29 Feb 2008

MIFA in Memphis…Allison and I are done.


Today was our final MIFA meals on wheels run! It was a nice day so there were lots of people out! We saw some hilarious kitties, some bizarre graffiti, some crazy hairdos, and some really sad houses. Also some very nice people. Helen, the main lady, reminds me of Ellen Degeneres. She cracks me up. A firecracker. She said someone actually sent her my blog somehow because it had to do with MIFA, so um yeah. Interesting. It’s neat the way the routes work – I am directionally challenged but it’s really easy to follow these MIFA routes, very organized.

Anyway, I don’t have any particularly touching stories of enlightenment, but the smiles of the people we visited were radiant.

And Helen rocks. So go to MIFA in Memphis and volunteer.
Oh by the way, I have to officially journal this for school, so I guess I’ll have a longer entry later….and I do plan to occasionally volunteer there just randomly, so I guess this isn’t the last you’ll hear of MIFA.

La la la….working on random OT stuff…I need some PICTURES!!! All you OT students or OTs out there, send me something to post. Please, I beg of you.

PS: I keep thinking of Amy Winehouse’s song Rehab… I know it has to do with substance abuse but it seems applicable to normal rehab too…lol “They try to make me go to Rehab and I say noo nooo nooo”

PS2: I have to tell y’all about the hilarious kitties. So we were waiting for a woman to answer the door, and standing on her porch. We could hear cats talking. I glanced around the side and there were two cats that looked vaguely Siamese. One of them was thin and stand-offish, crouching there like a loaf of bread. Let’s call her Allison. The other kitty (let’s call her Karen) was scruffier and intent on getting Allison’s attention. But Allison would have none of it. Karen was a scaredy-cat and would like, go RAWR! and tentatively pounce in front of Allison, but was too scared to really do it, so it was all ineffectual. Karen did this like five times. Then Allison got tired of it and walked away (you could tell the kitties were familiar with each other). I was like hey Allison, that’s our friendship – you’re mean and I want your attention but I’m scared of you, so I just try to mess with you but get freaked out and back off at the last minute. She was like, yep. Then, a few minutes later, meal transaction completed, we drove off. As we glanced back, we saw the two cats in the middle of um, an X-rated act. We were both like “Never mind. That’s not our friendship.” AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHH

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

28 Feb 2008

Pediatric occupational therapy treatment project by Julie

This has been on Youtube a while, and we got a neat comment “Hi I’m an OT student doing level II FW. I might borrow this idea for my setting (inclusive preschool for kids age 3-5). I shared this video with my supervisor too and she thinks this is a cool idea. Thanks for the post!”

Yay!!

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

28 Feb 2008

Hush little baby don't you cry!!! Mamma ain't buying you nothing so here's a new lullaby…


I am about to go pick up OTS Allison for us to do our final MIFA (meals on wheels run), although I may go do it every once in a while with someone just for fun. What did I do productive last night, you ask? Well……..that would be a big fat NOTHING. I ended up writing my first little song for my Special Care babies…I always sing to them but always have to make up my own words to lullabies since um, I don’t know any of them by heart. I am always like “Mamma’s gonna buy you a mockingbird pie….but if you dont like it….she’ll make you cry…..and then you’ll get a diamond ring….and ummmm….yeah you like to sing….and if you don’t like it….she’ll buy you some dough…ummm”….

So here is my own lullaby, woot woot!! I have a recording of my (not so good) voice singing it….but haha, none of you shall ever hear it. 🙂

hush little baby
dont you cry
I am here
with you I lie

I love you baby
love you baby
Little baby
I love you.

feel my heartbeat
feel my love
feel my arms
around you snug

Look into my eyes
Wipe your eyes of cries

Look at me
Little baby
Fall asleep
You are safe with me

I love you baby
love you baby
Little baby
I love you.

hush little baby
dont you cry
I am here
with you I lie

—-
Ok now I better run!!! Augh leaving the warmth of my blanket!! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

28 Feb 2008

WILL THE OTS MADNESS EVER STOP!!!

I was browsing through OTS MOT 1 Shari’s Facebook pictures while pretending dishes don’t exist, and came across this awesome picture of OTS MOT Cassie and Hillary with the following caption….

No, its the pinki that wont bend!!! AHHHHH!! Dang that Flexor Digitorum Superficialis tendon sheath!!!

I would just like to say, AHAHAHAHAHA

Ok that’s it, I promise to stop posting tonight and go be productive.

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

28 Feb 2008

Ok I am back and OT minded

Rereading the post below reminded me I did have an OT post for today to write up!

This morning OTS Julie brought up that she and her best friend OTS Anna were talking the other day and Anna seriously asked her about someone's “meaningful occupations”, even though it was completely not school-related. Then I brought up that I was talking to my landlord about his mother, who he just moved into a retirement community, and I was like, how is her functional mobility? And then Julie said one time she abbreviated an address and said Tx for Texas, and then later looked at it and was like “Treatment? huh?” And then Kerri said she was reading something the other day and was like OMG THIS IS SO OT-related.

We're being OT brain-washed! Yay!

Excuse me while I go pursue the meaningful occupation of watching TV, while ignoring the meaningless occupation of doing my dishes.

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

28 Feb 2008

No good very bad horrible day!

Today I fell asleep in class and got called out by the professor (whoopsiedoodles), then went to pick up my car which wasn't fully fixed because the belt pulley thing wasn't fitting so I have to go back, then I went to a bad part of town to get some shredded foam for this giant foam-bag thing, then I locked my key in the car. USAA helped me out quickly once I exhausted the other easiest options. Then I was supposed to be part of a panel for a diversity symposium for healthcare professionals (press release a post or two down), but I forgot about the time change, PLUS I had a few connection issues. So I basically missed the first hour and was only able to do about 10 minutes worth of chatting (via AIM and an awesome MOT student named Kuma in Philadelphia). I brought up how diversity doesn't just apply to ethnicity – it applies to people with disabilities too. (That was for you, Cookie Gimp)

As that Alexander kid would say, this was a no good very bad horrible no good day or whatever. :O The good news is, I did find time for a long nap. The bad news is, I found time for a long nap and now I'm gonna be up all night long.

Today we learned about cardiac rehabilitation in the morning, then had a research meeting, and then had article presentations in the afternoon. And I got to have a chocolate chip cookie from Subway, sinfully delicious.

I need to do my FAFSA and work on my Well Elderly project and Tai Chi paper and Competency Checklists for COTAs and blah blah blah, but who are we kidding! This has not been a good day so I think I should eat grapes with a palm frond and watch mindless TV! Or at least read some snarky websites! Maybe tomorrow I'll be more OT-minded again.

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1

27 Feb 2008

Infants – proper handling by OT students

Caption: OT Student Jenny from Chattanooga demonstrates “proper” handling of infants (picture stolen from Facebook)

AHAHAHAHA

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

27 Feb 2008

My self-eval for management

I got permission to post it from my instructor. It's my honest assessment of my self. LOL. It's an online course so most of our meetings take place in a chat room. I've worked online for so long that chat rooms are second nature to me…

Karen Dobyns  (self):  

            List of positive and negative attributes.

                      thinks quickly

                      overwhelms others in group meetings with irrelevant chat

                      has good ideas for implementation within assignment

                      often has a negative attitude toward workload

                      has an encouraging and supportive attitude towards others

                      often takes the easiest assignments for herself

                      recognizes when to ask for help

Karen works well in a group. She is quick to throw out her ideas, which are typically helpful to the assignment. However, she tends to overwhelm and distract her group members because she enjoys chatting and humor, which makes it hard for her group members to catch up. It is recommended that she keep her irrelevant chat to a minimum, and that she also wait to throw out ideas until others have contributed. Karen is encouraging and supportive towards the workload of others and is always concerned with the perception of fairness among team members. This helps keep resentment from brewing. However, she often takes what she perceives as the part that is easiest for her to do, if nobody objects. This prevents her from truly challenging herself as she is then not forced to work on her weak areas. It is recommended that she try to take on the group work that is outside of her comfort zone, in order to widen her scope of expertise. Karen is a knowledgeable member of the group that recognizes when the group has reached the limit of their knowledge base and needs extra help.

Next years goals:

1)                  Do a team-building exercise with team mates in order to work on attitude

2)                  Challenge herself by taking on an  assignment she finds the hardest, every other month.

3)                  Wait for others to contribute their ideas before saying anything.


Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

26 Feb 2008

Healthcare Disparities Symposium in Philadelphia

A MOT student from Philadelphia invited me to join in on this symposium via AIM…check out those statistics! 🙁

Health Care Disparities Symposium
>
> 2/24/2008 – The Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) will be hosting a symposium on February 27th at 8pm. It will be held in the STC building, Room 337. The symposium will focus on the need for more minorities in the health care workforce. There will be a panel of speakers discussing the importance of increasing the number of minorities in the health care workforce.
>
> SOTA believes that diversifying the health care workforce is vital in providing quality health care for all Americans. It has become painfully obvious that in a country full of culture and diversity, minorities do not receive the same level of health care as their white equivalents. By increasing the representation of minorities in the health care workforce, the underserved populations could receive better health care. A culturally diverse workforce (much like the population at USP) can more effectively care for a diverse clientele, as many people prefer to discuss their health concerns with someone from a similar background.
>
> Notable Statistics:
> The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) reports that almost 91 percent of their members are white.
>
> The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) looked at ethnicity in their membership in 2002. Out of 33,003 members, 20 percent did not list ethnic origin, but of those who did, almost 72 percent were white.
>
> Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce reports in 2004, that African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians as a group account for only 6 percent of physicians, 9 percent of nurses, and 5 percent of dentists.
>
> This is a public discussion, members in the audience will be allowed to ask questions and express their concerns.
>
> Speakers:
>
> Tracey Vause-Earland, Occupational Therapist at Thomas Jefferson Hospital.
>
> Cathy Poon, Pharmacy Faculty at USP.
>
>
> Contact:
>           Alaa Abou-Arab   (419-340-7319)

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none

26 Feb 2008

When do elders become worthless? Ever?

Some of us OT students have been practicing a depression assessment on elder adults, which includes the standardized question “Do you feel you are pretty worthless now?”. I can't stand to ask the question but I have to. It seems like quite a few of the elders responded that they were in fact worthless. These people were not depressed or unhappy or antisocial, but yet still matter of factly stated worthlessness. I personally think that no elder is worthless, whether the elder is in a retirement community, assisted living facility, or nursing home. Even if that elder isn't specifically working or volunteering, that person still has an effect on others. I am a huge believer in the layman Butterfly effect. I do believe the tiniest shift in China can affect something big across the world because of how everything is connected. That's part of why I think no elder is worthless – just a smile can change the world. And of course I also think no elder is worthless because, well, I just don't. I'm so articulate sometimes…lol

 What are your thoughts? Do you have ways or ideas on how to make elders feel more worthwhile? I've got some ideas but they're still in an inchoate stage…

Just an OT student blabbering thoughts…maybe I'll be back tonight with my swirl of ideas, maybe I'll wait a while. Tomorrow we have a lab on some common balance/mobility assessments, and so I'll hopefully finally have some new pictures to put up!

Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none