Mock Interview Reflection

Overall, I thought the interview went extremely well. I made appropriate eye contact, gave concise but not "wordy" responses, and I was unusually calm from the moment I walked in until the interview was concluded. In preparation, I watched several videos on mock interviews and tips and tricks from professionals of how to answer certain questions and what to and what not to say which helped me form my thoughts. Normally, I would have written a script of exactly what I would say if they asked specific questions, but instead, I had specific thoughts/talking points prepared in my head that could have been used for any questions the interviewer asked which was something that was extremely helpful and also allowed me to be genuine throughout the whole interview. The one thing that went differently than I expected was how calm I was. Any time I have to speak or give a presentation, I start off fine, but then get extremely nervous and almost get out of breath because I'm talking too fast and my voice becomes shaky, but I was able to keep my composure and remain calm and talk slowly during the interview which is also something I am proud of. One thing I will do differently in a real interview is to make sure I am more assertive with introducing myself from the beginning. I walked in and she introduced herself and then asked me how I was and there was an awkward transition to where she had to ask me my name rather than me introducing myself. I felt like this made me not seem as confident from the beginning, although it was just an awkward transition, so going in and making sure to say hello and introduce myself first is something I would do differently in a real interview. Something I learned during this process that may be helpful to me as I prepare to enter the workforce as an OT practitioner is to be yourself. It's much easier to give genuine answers and to be honest because it makes the experience much easier if you don't have to fabricate or rehearse responses and it shows the interviewer who you really are and if you are honest in the interview and they don't like you, you had nothing to lose (except the job...) but it might not have been the right fit for you anyways! If I am genuine and can build rapport with the person who is interviewing me and I feel good about their reaction to my interview, I think it will give me a better idea as to how I will feel entering into the workforce as a practitioner.

Aging & Sexual Health Lecture Reflection

What were the key takeaway points from the guest lecture today? 

• There is a myth that older adults are asexual. Although there is a gradual decline in activity, the majority of healthy people with intimate partners continue to remain sexual into their older years. Therefore, sex has a direct impact on our older patients and their health. 
• Sex is an occupation and is something we should take into consideration when treating older adults because it might be something that is important or meaningful to them. 
• Society pressures men which in turn directly impacts how they approach sex. Men then put a ton of pressure on themselves to be sexually competent. 
• A common problem for men is that they believe their sexual response should look and feel exactly like it did when they were younger and if it doesn't, they are not comfortable engaging in sexual activity. 
• The keys to intimacy in the later years for women is that the desire and sexual drive is a process, and for men, the sexual response changes with age. 
• Factors that impact sexuality for our older patients are the family of origin's influence, religion, and history of trauma. 
• The partner that has a low sexual desire is mislabeled as the "problem" and the partner that has a higher sexual desire is mislabeled as the "sex addict". "Sex addiction" is not recognized as a medical term and is not a diagnosis used by therapist, but rather "out of control sexual behavior" (OCSB). 
• Sexual health is not frivolous, but rather a quality of life issue. Although this topic might make us feel uncomfortable, this information is helpful to our patients and it is our job to become more comfortable addressing the topic since it is in our scope of practice. As future practitioners, being more comfortable addressing and discussing this topic with our patients will make them more comfortable asking for help to increase their quality of life. 

Describe two occupational therapy interventions based on the topic. Each intervention should address a different type of client: individual (1:1), group, or population.

• Individual: For an individual who has had a spinal cord injury, modifying the environment such as providing adaptive equipment such as a wedge is one type of intervention to address the individual's ADL of sexual health. 
• Group/Population: In a group setting, one OT intervention would be to use health promotion in an educational environment such as a support group, and providing sexual education facts, more specifically activity pacing, energy conservation, pain management, mobility and functional ambulation, task and work simplification, joint protection techniques, and range of motion. 

Driving and Community Mobility

Key Takeaway Points: 
- There are only 6 people in the state of TN who work with older adults & driving - these individuals who are being evaluated are just as dangerous as a drunk driver or someone who texts while driving.
- Being able to assess your patient just by looking at them is an extremely important aspect of being a licensed therapist and trying to determine what you think would be functionally challenging for these individuals. Be upfront with the patient about their driving capabilities based off of their assessments and the laws/regulations in the state in order to take yourself out of the equation totally to build patient rapport.
- First impressions (smile, shake the client's hand, make an effort to connect with the client, etc.) make a huge difference in therapist/patient care. It's important to be aware how you present information to your clients, especially when telling patients who have been driving for 40+ years that they can no longer drive anymore. This is a huge deal for them and as an OT, you should be upfront and honest with the patient while still remaining empathetic and caring towards the patient.
- Three purposes to performing driving evaluations:
1. Assess individuals for safety and potential to drive (stroke, person with autism, patient with SCI)
2. Evaluate people with physical disabilities for appropriate adaptive equipment (how will they get in/out of vehicle safely?)
3. Train individuals in the use of adaptive equipment and/or compensation techniques for driving

Common Diagnoses Served:
- CVA
- TBI
- SCI
- Amputations
- Alzheimer's Disease (#1 diagnosis Cody sees/evaluates)
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Cerebral Palsy
- Impairments in visual processing
- Intellectual disabilities

•  It's important to know diagnoses and understand their characteristics to determine whether or not it's safe for individuals to drive

The driving evaluation has 2 components:
1. Clinical eval
2. Behind the wheel assessment

OT Interventions: 
1. Individual - Having the client turn their neck and torso to locate road signs placed at various locations around the room and having them make driving-related decisions (checking rearview mirror, braking, steering, etc.)
2. Group/Population - Work on response and reaction time by having members of the group stand in a circle and keep a balloon in the air. As the game progresses, add more balloons to increase response and reaction time.

Reference: American Journal of Occupational Therapy, November/December 2014, Vol. 68, 662-669. doi:10.5014/ajot.2014.011247

Nutrition and Aging

It's common knowledge that nutrition is crucial in an individual's physical health, mental health, and overall quality of life. Without proper nutrition, our bodies are unable to work effectively and provide us with the fuel needed to energize our daily activities. Nutrition in older adults is often overlooked, especially in a facility such as a hospital or a SNF. Often those older adults who are in these types of settings have a more crucial need for proper nutrition because their bodies enter a stressed state which requires significantly more calories to be consumed since the patients' metabolism is working harder than it's used to. The key takeaways I made from this lecture was that proper nutrition early on, especially in settings such as acute care, is vital to a patient's recovery. Proper nutrition is just as important as the medications they are receiving and should be a top priority in patient education. Another takeaway was the reminder that we as (future) OT's can address proper nutrition within our scope of practice. Knowing the importance of proper nutrition and how the body can become hypermetabolic in a distressed state is something we should be able to address with the patient in order to not prolong their length of stay.

OT Interventions:

1. Individual Intervention - An intervention with an individual could be to educate them on the importance of proper nutrition and assist them, and/or their caregivers in keeping a food journal. By being able to write down what you eat, it allows the individual to be aware of and see how little food they are consuming each day. 
2. Group Intervention - A group OT intervention could include a group cooking class with a folder for the clients to take home of proper nutrition handouts, simple healthy recipes, and meal prep tips. This gives the group an opportunity to receive verbal education, experience cooking or prepping healthy food, and ask questions while also taking home handouts to increase the carryover to improve their nutrition habits. 

Effective Vs. Poor Communication

Communicating is one of the first skills we were taught as small children. This is how we are able to transmit our thoughts and feelings to others. It seems like such a simple concept, yet ironically it is something we as humans find as one of the most difficult elements of our daily lives. So many different details go into effective communication, not just speaking and understanding. Everything must work together like a well-oiled machine in order to be effective. Body language, facial expressions, posture, voice, and tone of volume are just a few key aspects of communication. As a future OT, there are many different people I will have to communicate with on a day to day basis: Children, parents, my supervisor, my co-workers, caregivers, my spouse, older adults, nurses, and the list could go on and on. The benefits of having good communication skills with my future clients are to establish a trust between myself and my patient to allow them to disclose information they may feel uncomfortable with, provide a greater patient satisfaction, and connect with the patient in a way that makes them become more motivated and allow them to see that I care about them as a person and their progress. Poor communication with my clients could lead to a decrease in patient confidence and trust with their therapist causing them to not share information relevant to their health and well-being, discouragement and feeling of unimportance of themselves, negligence, and patient complaints. Ultimately, communication is the key to a healthy relationship between you and your client. By being cognizant of who you’re communicating with and appropriately responding in a way that is positive and engaging, you will become a successful communicator.

Reference: 
Davis, L., & Rosee, M. (2015). Occupational therapy student to clinician: Making the transition. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK Incorporated.

Kayla Wright OT 640 Fieldwork Debriefing

You only fail when you quit.

Spirituality is defined by our OT Framework as, “The aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred”

In my occupation-centered practice in mental health course, we were instructed to reflect on our own spirituality & create a stand-alone display for others to view. I chose to center it around my journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. From day 1, I always felt (& still feel more times than not) defeated. But this sport has taught me important skills and surfaced certain characteristics to use not only on the mats, but in my everyday life: Patience, commitment, persistence, determination, respect, hard work & humbleness. All of which I hope are evident in my actions every day as well as in the future while working with my patients. 

Placed chronologically, this displays the outcome when you don’t quit. I could go on & on about all the underlying meanings this project had for me, but in 6 words, I can pretty much sum it up: You only fail when you quit.