Ashlyn's all about OT

When measuring range of motion (ROM), you use a goniometer. The goniometer has an axis, stationary arm, and moving arm. It is important to use bony landmarks to properly place the goniometer in the correct position for measuring ROM. Bony landmarks are also important when palpating in order to identify correct positioning or in certain cases to find possible limitations for ROM due to bone or muscle abnormalities. For example, when testing ROM of shoulder flexion, you would you the bony landmark of the acromion process to line up the axis of the goniometer, the stationary arm would need to be in line with the greater trochanter of the femur, and the moving arm would need to be in line with the lateral epicondyle of the humerus for proper testing position. It is important to be in the proper position for ROM testing to get the most accurate measurements. It can be easy to do compensatory movements when not in the proper test position. Referring to our example of testing shoulder flexion...

Everyday I sit in my car to drive to school. When I go to sit in the seat, my knees start in an extended position and move into a flexed position as I reach the seat. The motion of extension and flexion at the knee occur in the sagittal plane about a frontal axis. The osteokinematics of the knee are extension to flexion in a closed kinematic chain. In terms of arthrokinematics, the moving femur is the convex segment that rolls posteriorly and glides anteriorly on the stable tibial surface. The prime mover for knee flexion are the quadriceps muscles, which perform a eccentric contraction.  Picture retrieved from:  https://favpng.com/png_view/beautiful-car-sports-car-driving-royalty-free-clip-art-png/3SvC6Ryv

A CEO/head administrator of a larger hospital system says they have heard of OT but they aren't clear on the difference between OT and PT. Occupational therapy can be different for every person that goes through intervention. Overall, occupational therapy is the therapeutic way to learn or re-learn how to complete activities of daily living (ADL's). Some examples of ADL's are brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting dressed, putting on shoes, or eating/feeding. Although these are just a few examples of what ADL's are, the list is endless depending on the clients personal needs. Occupational therapist like to use the term client versus patient, because we use a holistic approach and think of the whole person through mind, body, and spirit. A big difference between PT and OT is that PT often uses the word patient, whereas we typically do not. Physical therapy is treating what is wrong with the patient such as an injury or disease often through ...

  References: Aota.org. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.aota.org/about/what-is-ot Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process—Fourth edition. (2020). The American Journal of Occupational Therapy , 74 (Supplement_2). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74s2001 

After reading an article about OT in the ICU, I learned about what it is like having a job as an occupational therapist in the intensive care unit. The ICU has a wide variety of diagnoses such as severe sepsis, organ failure, myocardial infarction, major surgery, detoxing, or insulin drips. An ICU OT they types of interventions vary. I learned that the patient's condition and stability is a big factor in deciding what kind of intervention is done. For more alert/awake patients who are stable, working on mobility such as getting to a chair or walking to the toilet is a good choice. For patients that are less stable, a better choice might be to keep the intervention in the bed or in a chair. i also learned about the importance of family education. Keeping the patient's family informed and educated on what the rehab process will be like is important. It is about letting the patient have meaning in their life and keeping the family informed helps with this incase there are specific...

"Culture describes the knowledge, beliefs, values, assumptions, perspectives, attitudes, norms, and customs that people acquire through membership in a particular society or group." (Hammell, 2013). A person's culture can impact their daily occupations and routines in many different ways. A client might not speak the primary language where they're at, causing difficulty in interpreting. Race and class might give a person limited and unequal access to life opportunities and poverty. Financial ability can impacts a person's daily occupations and routines. Sexual orientation can influence choices in occupation and how someone socially responds to them. Also, the discrimination against those with a disability. Some personal examples on how culture can impact daily occupations would be a man not thinking I could change my own tire because I am a woman. This man took my gender and assumed I couldn't complete this occupation because of it. Another example is, when I ...

Today in class we watched a film entitled "Suffer the Little Children" and discussed the history of disability. In the documentary it mainly focused on the Pennhurst Institution and exposing a lot of the wrongful actions taking place there. The Pennhurst Institute was a home for the mentally disabled that opened in 1908. In the documentary, it was shown that Pennhurst was understaffed, needed major reconstruction of the buildings, and overcrowded. The physicians openly admitted to abusing the children at the institution, some of these children even died. In the documentary it showed children in straight jackets, shackled to the beds, and the cottages being overcrowded. One of the physicians stated that some of the children admitted into Pennhurst weren't initially diagnosed with a mental disability, but being in the institute would make it almost impossible to mentally develop fully. The institution finally closed in November, 1987.  The documentary opened my eyes to how ...