For the practice of Occupational Therapy it teaches meaningful, functional, and adaptive life skills; it is a profession that enhances activities of daily living (ADL), and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). IADL’s including community mobility, is a critical area for the United States citizens. Driving is an instrumental activity that needs addressed with each client for safety and testing motor movements. Between 2002 and 2012, more than 1.5 million U.S. soldiers returned to the United States after an active duty Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraq Freedom (OIF; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], 2012a). Soldiers are trained specifically to what branch of service they’re going into. Going through strict training their units, …show more content…
A high-fidelity driving simulator can be used as an assessment tool to identify driving errors and as a treatment tool to re-mediate driving errors for combat veterans (Classen, Monahan, Canonizado, and Winter, pg. 405. 2014). Another test that could be completed by the occupational therapist is testing the veteran’s Praxis response. Praxis is planning a new motor act in response to an environmental demand. While driving if someone pulled out in front of the moving vehicle, if Praxis wasn’t presented then the driver wouldn’t be able to react and swerve away from the other vehicle. The effectiveness of interventions within the scope of occupational therapy practice, is to improve or maintain the driving performance and community mobility of combat veterans who return home from training, or war, who are continuously using military tactics when operating a vehicle. Even though these factors compromise the safety of the veterans and of other road users, little evidence currently exists on driving intervention for returning combat veterans (Classen, Monahan, Canonizado, and Winter, pg. 405.
In Plano, Texas, many drive to get from place to place, but for this suburban mom’s fear of driving has gotten difficult. For Kalika Patel, driving was never a difficult task, but through past experiences it has gotten difficult. She said this “started when I was running regular errands, but suddenly my blood pressure increased, and I became dizzy” This may not sound like anything major, but after this first incident, this occurred to her many other times. Mrs. Patel said “this kept happening over and over again, finally it felt as it was an anxiety problem” Currently, she still deals with anxiety, but she said “that [her] condition has gotten much better from the few years ago, when this innocent first occurred,” as she told our news team.
and intrigued by the mind-body connection as well as the importance of human activity and occupation in maintaining mental and physical well-being. At the same time, my desire to work directly with people and be able to make a positive and lasting change to their lives by empowering them and helping discover their strengths and confidence in themselves to achieve their goals, led me to a realization that a career in occupational therapy would be a perfect fit for me. To me occupational therapy is a dynamic, rewarding, challenging, and inspiring field where I can fully realize my skills and knowledge. Having always been a firm believer in the patient-centric approach, I am passionate about providing excellent service to patients by improving their performance, preventing illness and disability and promoting adaptation to life
Road rage, ignoring traffic laws, drinking and driving, or texting and driving are becoming a convention. As more people convert to these unacceptable actions, the roads become even more perilous. Reevaluating the way individuals drive could end up saving someone’s
In order for Monti to make effective progress and reach potential outcomes selecting and implementing appropriate assessments and treatment strategies is vital. A key element in the occupational therapy profession is using a holistic approach to treating to enhance quality of life. Therefore, during the evaluation process the implementation of one assessment will not target all the skill areas Monti is deficient in. Additionally, when treating the body as whole it is important to analyze how Monti interacts and completes the task by observing motivation, body position, movement patterns, coordination, attention, sensory processing functions, visual functions and awareness within his environment. After the completion of the evaluation process
One of the assignments for the Introduction to Occupational Therapy is to select an article and write a review about it. The article that seized my interest is “Starting a Private Practice: The First Steps” by Tara J. Glennon. In this response paper, I am going to discuss about how to start a private own business. My discussion will include the fate of small businesses in the United States. However, this effect will less likely to impact potential occupational therapy practice entrepreneurs because of the higher demand of occupational therapy, and therapists in the future.
. Another problem during the accreditation of Ayres work is she decided to use sensory integration as an isolated anomaly, rather than embedding it entirely in the context of Occupational therapy. Ayres main goals of her work was more based on what Occupational Therapy alone, can achieve, such as individuals can follow routines that are involved in daily life like, eating, sleeping getting ready, etc. Reseatchers trying to replicate the treatment developed a goal attainment scale, to help measure the effectiveness of studies. This was a breakthrough, allowing goals for the families and individuals and comparison across the wide array of people using this method.
Occupational Therapy is a health care profession in which we facilitate maximal independence and quality of life throughout the lifespan. As an Occupational Therapy Assistant Student, I want to be able to make the difference in the individual life to reach the patients goals and helping them back to be independent as possible. “The mission of the University of Charleston is to educate each and every student to their life of productive work, enlightened living and the community involvement.” (The University of Charleston, 2017). Liberal Learning Outcomes helps the student to be able to communicate effectively and engage in creativity in our professional and personal life (The University of Charleston, 2017).
Occupational therapy provides assistance for those who are in need of assistance with daily living and work skills. These specialists work with people of various demographics to handle normal life challenges in a safe and healthy manner. How does occupational therapy work? The therapist determines what is important to the patient, and the obstacles preventing the patient from enjoying these aspects of life.
Veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) have high rates of unemployment and mental health disorders. In addition, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common injury among OIF/OEF veterans, often leading to cognitive impairments and post-concussive symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and difficulties with cognitive and functioning. TBI and comorbid psychiatric conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) limit cognitive readiness for civilian employment and may lead to impaired job performance. These conditions all serve as potential barriers for OIF/OEF Veterans entering the workforce.
Transitioning from military life to civilian life can be a brutal mind game for veterans. Upon return, they have to find a new version of normal. In the military, there is a different way of life which tends to pull soldiers away from the outside world. To veterans’ “Normal is alien encompassed many veterans experiences of disconnection from people at home, lack of support from institutions, lack of structure, and loss of purpose upon return to civilian life.” (Ahern 1).
Occupational therapy saved my family. Growing up with a sister with severe spastic cerebral palsy to include both cognitive and functional deficits, life existed on a day to day, hour by hour basis, as we were unsure of challenges each moment would bring. This all changed the moment occupational therapy brought quality of life back to me and my family. My very personal experience defined my purpose to become an occupational therapist, to pay the gift given my family forward.
It is also this organization that would be later known as the American Occupational Therapy of today. Following the Great Depression, however, it was difficult to find therapists due to low budgets and poor staffing clinics. World War I then came which necessitated the use of every valuable therapist possible. It was of this time that Occupational Therapists were called on to develop programs and treat the injured soldiers, of which there were too
Occupational therapy is an arcane profession to the general populous. Occupational therapists help all individuals live life to their fullest by maximizing one’s level of independence through engaging
Volunteering at McKenna Farms Therapy Services I was able to observe pediatric occupational therapy sessions. Not only did I get to observe Occupational Therapy sessions, but I observed Hippotherapy sessions too. What I found so unique about McKenna Farms is that they had Speech Therapist, Physical Therapist, and Occupational Therapist all together at one clinic. This allowed me to witness how the different types of therapy fit together and how the therapist would collaborate to find the best way to treat the children. My favorite part was finding ways to communicate with the kids.
Becoming an occupational therapist is my passion and my long-term career goal. Since a young age I have been incredibly inspired and motivated to befriend and help disabled individuals. Having grown up with a disabled mother who benefited from the services of occupational therapy I had the opportunity to see first hand how the experience gave can give individuals like her fulfilling and productive lives. With both parents working as healthcare professionals, including my mother who is now an occupational therapist herself, I see every day how rewarding the field is. Through my life I have had unique personal, professional and educational experiences that have shaped me into a strong candidate for an advanced education in occupational therapy.