OTs Help Put the Able into Actionable: R A W = S A

READY +ABLE +WILLING = Successful Action

 A psychologist friend recently told me about the phrase “Ready, Willing, and Able”.  All three components must be there for any Successful Action to occur.

R.A.W. = S.A.

Possible reasons for inaction:

*Ready, able, NOT willing

*Willing, able, NOT ready

*Ready, willing, NOT able

When the person is ready and willing yet not ABLE it is typically the most self-devastating. In all of the above cases, especially “not able”, an occupational therapist can help.

Whether it’s a challenge physically, mentally, or a combination of the two, OTs break down the issues and help figure out how to find and repair the missing link. Then all three components (ready, able, willing) are there, subsequently leading to an action, and therefore meaningful and appropriate participation!

If you click on the “Printables” tag, this should be up there as a PDF that can be easily printed. The first page is somewhat of a “cheat sheet” and pages 2-4 are the longer detailed version. Page 5 is an accident. Sorry.  (Oh look, I managed to insert it here which is good because I also apparently don’t know to upload it to printables yet. Can you tell my website/type of blogsite is new and I have no idea what I’m doing?)

RAWSA in OT: Focusing on Successful Action

Click the read more link to see example stories of depression/executive functioning deficits affecting a person’s actions [and my typical excessive details]! (It turns out I also don’t know how to use the read more link appropriately either. AHAHAHAHAA. Soon!!)

Severe depression

Anna is ready and willing to get out of bed, physically and mentally, because she understands rationally she needs to go to work. Yet she truly is not “able”, because the depression is so crippling.  She lay there, mentally telling herself to get up, get up, get up. She wants to. She’s just not able. An OT could work with an interdisciplinary team that would likely include a psychiatrist and a psychologist, to help Anna get back to her life, and I could spend ten million words on how, but that will have to wait for a future post!

Executive functioning deficits

John is ready and willing to have a clean and organized desk. He sees other children rewarded for their desk and he would love to be able to find items quickly like the other children. However, he is not able. He can’t focus on the teacher’s instructions while simultaneously manipulating objects, putting old things away and reaching for new things. His brain just can’t process all of it at once while telling his body what and how to do it. He can’t problem-solve what to do or sequence all the actions. He is literally unable because of how his brain functions. This is where a school-based OT comes in and works with John for skill building, modifications, accommodations, and much more to help John be more independently successful.

I did not put in a story for working on being able to “physically” complete a task when ready and willing, although this is also a huge area that OTs can and do work on. 🙂

I love that us OTs can work legitimately in so many different domains within our scope of practice (typically within an interdisciplinary team), as we focus on helping the “client live life to its fullest!”

Take home message:

R.A.W = S.A.

Ready + Able + Willing = Successful Action

As an OT working with a client, it’s a good idea to ask yourself where the missing component(s) is within the equation of RAWSA. Frequently the missing link is “able” in our OT world.

Luckily, that’s part of the reason we exist. We’re all about adding the ABLE TO ACTION! Making life ACTIONABLE!!! Ooh, new slogan: OTs add the “able” to ActionABLE!

*Names and details within the story are generically made-up, based on common issues.

*See “Printables Category” for the PDF of RAWSA

[tags depression, executive functioning, function, ready, willing, able, RAW, actions, occupational therapy, occupational therapists, occupational therapist, activities of daily life, skill building, deficits, mental health, ADLs, participation, actionable, successful, living life to its fullest, meaningful]