Occupational Therapy

Early June 2011 my grandad suffered a minor stroke at the age of 76. He was quickly admitted to John Muir in walnut Creek, a few days went by and he only figuremed to be getting worse when alas my familys worst nightmargon became a reality. My granddad endured an new(prenominal) stroke, only this time it was much much serious. This put my family in an enormous amount of e proceedingal distress, e unfeignedlyone was terrified and we had no idea what was going to give to my grandfather. It happened so fast, all we wanted were answers.But, when we got answers, they were far from what we wanted to hear. A few days after my grandfathers second stroke my family met with his doctors who showed little desire or optimism. They told us we were lucky he was becalm a plump, but with the condition he was in now we were n ever so going to see him walk again, he would probably neer talk again, and he was definitely never going to be equal to(p) to sleep with independently ever again. As he kept explaining to us what was going to happen to my grandfathers life, the words cut like daggers.My cousins and I watched our p atomic number 18nts bewail with sorrow as we plainly sat past our grandfathers hospital bed feeling helpless and conf used. Ab let on a month went by while my grandfather was even in John Muir, and his progress was nonhing to rave about. We would visit him daily, but he never seemed to be getting much better. He couldnt eat, talk, or move, but we incisively reminded him to get fighting and we knew, with hope, he would be able to make a substantial reco really. When my grandfather was ignore from the John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek, he moved into the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Leandro.While in San Leandro, he started to receive more intense therapy, his recovery was slow but we started seeing improvements he was able to eat solid food, without a pump, began to talk again. While visiting my grandfather in San Leandro I was intr oduced to occupational therapy for the outgrowth time. I had no idea what occupational therapists did or even what occupational therapy was, but as I sat in on a few of my grandfathers sessions I became very interested. According to the World Federation of occupational Therapy, occupational therapy is a profession concerned with promoting health and welf are through engagement in occupation. But, when I sat down and talked with Julie Roberts, an in-home occupational therapist, she sighed, describing what OTs do is really the hardest discover of the job there are so many variant things we do and everyone has their own individual qualifications. When Julie goes into a home to sate with her lymph nodes for the first time, she greets them with a smile and tells them shes there to help them with their job of living. Occupational therapy is an integral part of the therapeutic aspects of a persons recovery.Although many mickle may see OTs for material disabilities, its alike ver y common for someone to go to an OT for help with their mental or emotional state. Since everyone suffers uniquely from their several(a) disabilities, typically the therapeutic process begins with an individualized evaluation during which the client, their family and their occupational therapist determine the individuals goals leading to a customized intervention to improve the persons energy to perform daily activities and reach his/her goals and once their therapy is over an evaluation to monitor progression towards meeting the clients goals is conducted.Occupational therapists focus on adapting the environment, modifying the task, teaching the skill, and educating the client/family in order to increase participation in and performance of daily activities. For instance, teaching an elderly woman with a hip replacement how to get in and out of the bath tub while minimizing her fall risk, or helping a man convalescent from a car accident use grabbers to reach things to keep his b ack safe. According to Roberts the most consequential part of her job is helping people adapt to living with their disability as efficiently as possible. During my visitation I went to an assisted living home in Antioch with my mentor, OT Stephanie Morano, I was able to sit in on a therapy session for a 92-year-old woman named Fern. Fern suffered from a GI bleed and although she was living somewhat independently, she had trouble moving and limited mobility. During the session I sat in on Stephanie used a balloon to help Fern feel comfortable standing and regain her balance, while strengthening her core just by making Fern stand in front of her couch while they batted the balloon back and forth.Morano is to a fault an in-home OT, meaning her main focus is to evaluate their patients level of freedom, cognition, and safety. Moreover, occupational therapists provide intervention to maximize independence and function through remedial and compensatory strategies, with the ultimate g oal of the clients regaining the ability to live independently at home. Typically in-home OTs work with the geriatric community and spend most of their days in assisted living facilities or in homes with elderly people. According to Roberts most of her elderly patients suffering from various disabilities, are retired and dont understand why shes there they dont reckon they inquire her help, until she starts showing them what she does. Outside of home health there are a plethora of different areas to specialize in occupational therapy, a wonderful thing about this anguisher is the ability to exchange your area of expertise.Roberts and Boray both adamantly told me that home health is not for low gear OTs, when doing home health you are completely isolated from any other OTs, whereas in other areas you are surrounded by other OTs with other specific areas of knowledge that you can ask for advice. A few of the most popular areas of differentiation include pediatrics, which is wor king with small children in schools, community, and child based inpatient hospitals. Although many times children need the same type of care as adults, the specialization comes in the way that the OTs address the needs in a way to specifically benefit a child.Jennifer Boray, an OT that has worked in many areas, including pediatrics through the plenty Diablo Unified school district expressed to me that working with children is a wonderful experience to begin universe an OT with because their freeness to learn and their want to succeed is fresh and enlightening. Many OTs also work in acute care hospitals, helping people stabilize their medical after a traumatic event, such as a stroke, spinal cord injury, or brain injury.Occupational therapy plays an important role in facilitating early mobilization, restoring function, preventing further decline, as strong as coordinating the patients transition and discharge planning. Skilled nursing facilities also employ many OTs, in skilled nursing facilities the OTs focus on each individuals needs and typically help with activities of daily living and self-reliance, such as salad dressing and eating. There are also many outpatient clinics in hospitals for patients that are in need of individual treatment, but are pacify able to function on their own.The many faces of occupational therapy allow Boray to easily move through this go and learn new things every day, she loves that if she ever gets tired of home health care it will ever be an option to find something new in this industry but she plans on being in home health care for the rest of her life. Although occupational therapy is crucial to a persons recovery, it is still an overlooked career in many ways. Even the OTs that Ive talked to told me that going into college they had no idea what occupational therapy was.Many students begin school wanting to pursue a career in physical therapy or replacement when they are approached by a teacher or counselor with in formation about occupational therapy. Roberts explained when she went to college her career counselor suggested Julie look into occupational therapy, but she had no idea what it was. Like most people, she was initially confused, so they just reteach people how to live? But, as she investigated the career, she realized it was exactly what she was looking for.Being an OT is an extremely rewarding career, not only for the therapist, but also the patient. While my grandfather was in the hospital he began to get hopeless, he knew that he wasnt making much of a recovery and it was hard for him to find the want to keep fighting, until he began his occupational therapy. It may not seem like a big deal, but when he isnt able to hold a fork or stabilize his hand to raise it to his mouth, it forestall him, but after trying and trying with his OT he was finally able to feed himself.When he took his first bite of food by himself after his stroke, his eyes lit up and it was obvious that he was beginning to believe in himself again. As time went on, the tasks he began to strive to achieve got bigger eventually dressing himself, showering by himself, and contrary to the doctors belief, walking by himself, were all things my grandfather wouldnt get down been able to do if it wasnt for occupational therapy. Roberts professed to me her passion for helping people is what drew her into occupational therapy and kept her there. Seeing the joy on a sixteen year old girls face when she finally puts her sensory hair in a ponytail for the first time is an indescribable feeling, Julie told me, glowing, but the thanks that comes after, the true gratitude she feels, thats what I love. When Boray asked me why I was interested in occupational therapy, I told her about my grandfather, and how beneficial occupational therapy was for him. after(prenominal) I was finished telling her about my situation she started glowing, and replied thats what makes it all worth it, seeing a young girl inspired by n OT makes me know that were doing something right. In doing this project and researching occupational therapy, Ive learned a lot about the career and its definitely something that Im interested in pursuing in college. Since very few people are aware of what occupational therapy really is, there is a huge demand for OTs throughout the nation, and world. According to the Medical University of South Carolina, occupational therapys projected growth rate is over 23% from 2006 to 2016. Roberts declared that becoming an OT was the smartest thing she has ever done.She is a divorced single mother of two, who makes more than enough to support herself. Shes never been out of a job and she was easily able to take breaks for periods of time while she was having kids and traveling. Roberts affirmed that shes never had to fish for a job and in this economy, thats impressive. I found Borays ability to meet with me in the early afternoon very interesting, most people working full time jobs are locked into specific hours but when I walked into her home and saw her son playing with Legos on the floor I realized how much flexibility she really had.When asking Boray how she manages working full time and having a family, she explained thats one of the most wonderful things about working as an OT in home health you really create your own schedule. Jennifer is electronically contacted by her company on a weekly basis with a list of clients for the week she then calls all of her clients individually and sets up times to meet with them that work hale for her.Jennifer typically meets with 5 or 6 clients a day for about 45 minutes. Boray uses many aspects of development in her career every day, although the majority of her classes in school focused on muscle movement, she also uses lot of her psychology classes when dealing with patients, she evaluates a person mental state and sends it back into the doctor with her evaluations of their physical progress, its a really in teresting part of the job, but it can get tough. She also has to use her medical knowledge to deem what is appropriate for every client, for instance if someones range of motion is limited because of a car accident but she notices they show signs of also possibly having a stemma clot she reports that to the doctor as well. Roberts agreed that the most important personality trait to gain as an OT is without a doubt, being a problem solver. After witnessing the positive effects of occupational therapy, Ive require very passionate about the career and spreading awareness about the benefits of this specific kind of therapy.I hope that with my video I will be able to show the class, exactly what occupational therapy is and how it positively affects the people who endure it. I would love for everyone to develop the same appreciation for occupational therapy as I have and really see the benefits of them. The flexibility in this career, along with the rewarding aspects have made it some thing I am greatly considering to pursue. Seeing my grandfather, along with Fern, and the women that I interviewed gave me an insight to this career that wouldnt have been possible without my all-embracing research and strive to learn more.Im immensely joyous that I chose this topic to pursue and I think it will have a direct impact on my life, my mentor was wonderful and helped my very much through this entire process. I was inspired to join the American Occupational Therapy Association and am now periodically given information about breaking innovations in occupational therapy, as well as connecting with OTs in our area and starting to get my name out there, hopefully leading to reformative opportunities in pursuing this career in the near future.Ive enjoyed expanding my knowledge about occupational therapy in general, and I found it very comforting that everyone Ive been around in this career was so kind and willing to help last summer before I ever even though about doing thi s for my project I was interested in learning more about being an OT and Im glad I was motivated to do so because this was a life-changing experience.