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.

Disability Justice

Danielle Lancelot Watson is an occupational therapist who specializes in hand therapy. Before becoming an OT, Danielle dreamed of becoming a physical therapist and right before she started applying to PT schools, she sustained a T6 level spinal cord injury while rock climbing in Colorado. Her dreams of becoming a PT might have not happened, but the way her story plays out is amazing.

One thing I took away from Danielle's story in this podcast was to never give up and to trust the process and that everything will work out the way it is supposed to. After being rejected from several PT schools time and time again because of her disability, she never gave up hope and she was persistent. Finally, a PT had reached out to an OT at their college and the OT told her that there's nothing wrong with her having a disability and admitted her into the OT program if she would consider it. Since Danielle knew it probably wasn't a possibility since she had been rejected so many times before, she decided to give OT a shot.

That spoke volumes to me about our profession. Number one, the simple fact that the OT program that accepted her was looking at her holistically rather than seeing her disability, was a perfect representation of our profession. I completely understand about the safety of patients with transfers and gait, but after hearing Danielle's story about constantly being rejected by PT schools and finally getting a chance from an OT program, really made me proud to be a future OT and proud to be a part of this profession. Number two, I think it's wonderful to have an OT practitioner who knows first hand what clients we work with are facing daily such as the struggles, the rejection, the judgment, and the whispers because they look different from us. I think it's important to have a diverse field in order to connect with clients from all backgrounds, all disabilities, and all beliefs. Danielle said that with her being in a wheelchair, she feels like she has an instant connection with patients and she feels like her patients can understand and instantly trust her.

Something that really broke my heart was when Professor Lancaster said that a young girl she knew who was in a wheelchair was saying how it's difficult to find places in the community where young adults want to go that are wheelchair accessible such as restaurants and bars. When the girl said that the only wheelchair ramps were in the back by the trash and the dumpsters, a little voice in her head tells her that she is not worthy of a front door entrance. This statement broke me because so many people who are not in wheelchairs do not think about a wheelchair ramp or putting a couple steps in front of their restaurant or business and how it might make someone feel who arrives and realizes they can't get in. This is something I believe should change and should be a law for every business, restaurant, and anywhere in the community, that there should be a ramp in the front of the building for wheelchair users. It opened my eyes to think that even if it isn't intentional, we don't know what goes through someones mind who is a little bit different from us when they can't maneuver the same way as us. This is something I would love to petition and advocate for and see put into action in the very near future. When Danielle said that when she was in New York and she and her two other friends who were in wheelchairs had to take the bus because the subway is not accessible, the bus driver told them they couldn't all three go together because he can only take two people at once, and when she went to a concert and they said she could only have one friend with her, it really put into perspective how badly we need to fight for disability justice. There is no reason why they should be treated unfairly just because they maneuver differently than we do.

Overall, this was such an inspiring podcast and Danielle's story and her persistence and positive attitude is amazing. I am attaching the link for others to listen to it if they choose because it's something I believe can inspire anyone, not just students or people in the healthcare field.

http://www.ontheair.us/podcast1/episode-16-disability-justice-adaptive-sports

It Can Wait

Today, we had the opportunity to meet Fletcher Cleaves. Fletcher was a starting freshman football player at Lambuth University under coach Hugh Freeze. But the story doesn't start there. All Fletcher's life he was constantly told that he was too little and he couldn't do it. Fletcher didn't let it get to him and get him down, though. He always took that and let it motivate him to prove people wrong. When he worked his tail off to sign a national letter of intent with Lambuth to play football, he was only 1 of the 2 freshman out of 30 that Coach Hugh Freeze would be taking on the bus for away games, the other was his roommate. Just two days before he was supposed to start in his first collegiate football game, Fletcher and his roommate decided to drive to Buffalo Wild Wings and pick up some supper and head back to the dorm to watch Ole Miss and Alabama play. After leaving Buffalo Wild Wings, Fletcher was driving with his roommate, the other freshman that would be suiting up for away games, when his roommate called his name and told him to watch out. Fletcher swerved to miss an oncoming car that had crossed the double yellow lines onto his side, overcorrecting, and landing upside down in a ravine, trapping him and ejecting his friend. Once he realized what had happened, his friend had gotten help and next thing he knew, he was in the back of an ambulance. Before anyone had told him any details of his own condition, he knew one thing: he wasn't hurting. When the EMT asked him to move his right leg and then his left leg, he thought he did, but the EMT knew that it was bad. His legs never moved. Fletcher had sustained a C5-C6 spinal cord injury and was forever paralyzed from the chest down.

The cause of the accident that could have been avoided? DISTRACTED DRIVING

Fletcher spent a total of 10 days in the hospital where is doctor gave him a list of things he would never be able to do again. He wasn't phased, though. He had been doubted all his life. But he always worked his hardest and proved people wrong. He even proved the doctor wrong. Fletcher spent the next 9 moths in Atlanta at The Shepard Center receiving top notch therapy from 8 am until 5 pm every single day. Today, Fletcher travels the world as a motivational speaker and advocates against distracted driving. One thing Fletcher didn't do was let his situation affect his outlook on life. He knew that there were people out there who were worse off than he was and he was going to make the best out of his "new" life. Fletcher went on to move into his own apartment by himself, learn how to do his own wheelchair transfers, go back to college, drive an adaptive truck, graduate from the University of Memphis with a computer science degree, and now has a career with AutoZone headquarters in downtown Memphis as an IT professional. Fletcher has never let his disability get to him. He has found the positive side of every negative situation he has ever been faced with.

"Whether someone tells you that you can, or someone tells you that you can't... they're right." 

It's all about how you respond to the circumstances that life has given you. If you believe when someone tells you that you can't do something, you will never be able to do it. But if someone tells you that you can't do something and you use that as motivation to work hard to prove them wrong, you will win every time. Something that stood out to me was when Fletcher said "You've heard that when life hands you lemons you make lemonade. Well the way I look at it, life handed me lemons and I planted the seeds and built a lemonade stand." Fletcher has spent his time traveling the world advocating against distracted driving and as a motivational speaker. His mission is to motivate, inform, and inspire people with his story and hopefully, save lives by showing people first hand why distracted driving is incredibly dangerous and selfish and can absolutely be avoided. We live in a world today where the young drivers have been texting longer than they've been driving and they more experienced drivers have been driving longer than they've been texting, so both age groups think that they can multitask. The truth of the matter is that multitasking is a myth. Our brain simply switches back and forth between the two or more tasks so quickly that it makes us believe they're happening simultaneously, or multitasking. Another point Fletcher made that really made me realize how selfish our world is today is "If I told you that you were three times as likely to be in a car wreck if you're wearing a red shirt, I guarantee that you would make sure you weren't wearing red. But That's the same statistic with distracted driving. You are three times more likely to be in a car accident if you are a distracted driver. So why do we still do it? We know the laws and the dangers of distracted driving, yet we still choose to do it." So many people say "It'll never happen to me" and the sad part about it is it might not happen to you, but you could be the cause of taking someone else's life. 

So, what now? Going forward, I believe that this was a good base of learning and knowledge about spinal cord injuries and what the challenges are that they face daily, as well as how distracted driving doesn't only affect the person is distracted behind the wheel, but can affect an innocent persons life tremendously. I am 100% on board with advocating against distracted driving and helping share Fletcher's story. This is a very serious issue and going into the occupational therapy field, it's something we should all be advocating.

In closing, don't be a selfish driver.
Don't be a distracted driver.
No text is worth it.
No email is worth it.
No google search is worth it.
No Netflix show is worth it.
No "selfie" or Snapchat is worth it.
Put the phone down. Keep your hands on the wheel. Keep your eyes on the road. It can wait.

Click HERE to watch Fletcher's video by AT&T about distracted driving.

"How can we say the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon?"

Click the link to visit Fletcher's website and hear his story. I promise you will receive a blessing. https://www.fletchercleaves.com/

Media Project

When blindly choosing an item to center our media project, I drew a manila folder. How in the world I was going to come up with an intervention centered around a manila folder was beyond me. After trying to think of the most creative and innovative projects, it hit me that it didn't have to be extravagant to be effective. After reading about my client, I realized that simplicity would be the way to go in order to accomplish his goals.

My client, Maurice, is an 83 year old retired dairy farmer who was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a decade ago. He also has bilateral cataracts which contribute to his poor vision. His speech is somewhat difficult to understand at times, especially when he is fatigued. He reports increased feelings of isolation and frustration as a result of his speech production problems, the inevitable decline in his speech skills with disease progression, and his increasing reliance on others for help with his ADLs. Maurice is a very social person and enjoys visits from friends and neighbors. His wife reports that his memory is becoming more impaired; however, he consistently recognizes familiar people and is oriented to person and place. He likes to have choices in his daily routine such as what shirt he will wear, even though he needs moderate to full assistance for all ADLs. He is bound to the bed for several hours out of the day. Maurice's wife, Dina, injured her back while trying to help Maurice move in the bed so she is sending him to live in a skilled nursing facility until she heals, but it is not determined when he will go back to live at home or if he will remain at the facility. Maurice's main concern is that he is worried he will get bored and/or lonely if he can't go home soon.

While reading the short case study of Maurice, a few different things stood out to me: dairy farmer, cows, worried about being bored and lonely, and the fact that his intervention should be focused around trying to prolong the inevitable decline in speech, handwriting, vision, and memory due to his Parkinson's Disease. I decided to take my item (a manila folder) and make a book out of several manila folders of different activities that Maurice could do that would keep him busy as well as something he could enjoy.

Since Maurice is a retired dairy farmer and he currently leases over 80 acres of his land for dairy and cattle grazing,  I decided to center his folder around a theme that he would enjoy: cows.

 On the inside of the folder, I used another manila folder to make a pocket for storage, and I made a phone log with his family and friends so he would be able to contact them if he needed anything, or if he felt lonely and just needed to talk to someone. Since his wife raised concerns about his memory, although he recognizes familiar faces, I made sure to include a picture of each person beside their name and phone number in case there was ever any confusion.

With Parkinson's Disease, it's important to try and prolong the inevitable decline of memory loss, hand steadiness, and eye sight. Trying to think about a fun way to pass time, work on some fine motor and visual perception skills, and have fun, I created a puzzle that has Velcro attached to the back to avoid disorder of the puzzle pieces as a result of his spontaneous extremity movements and rigidity from his PD. This skill also focuses on fine motor skills.
Since he also likes to have a choice in his daily routine and his memory is declining, I thought a laminated weekly list would be perfect for him to be able to write something down on a certain day, so he would remember. This is also great for practicing his grip and handwriting.

Even though his wife stated that he consistently recognizes familiar faces, I thought it would be a good idea to get a picture of each close friend or family member and laminate them with a blank space underneath so he could write their names with a dry erase marker. This would be great for his memory as well as handwriting and grip.

Even though he is moderate to full assistance with ADLs, I'm sure that with some practice, Maurice might improve to be able to complete some ADLs independently. He takes pride in being able to do things for himself, so with practice and the absence of pressure and frustration, he can practice tying, zipping, and buttoning to hopefully improve enough to be able to complete his ADLs with minimal to no assistance.

The last page has a crossword puzzle (yep - about cows) to keep his memory sharp, and is also laminated so he can use his dry erase marker. It also includes a dot-to-dot (again - of a cow) to work on his spontaneous movements and rigidity, working memory, and visual tracking skills.

The back of the book, I chose a picture (who I would like to think is Maurice several years ago) that would not only display something he loves doing, but would hopefully make him happy.


I think the most meaningful thing I learned during this assignment was that interventions don't have to be anything extravagant. Study what the client enjoys and what makes them happy and think about their goals and go from there. I learned that even the most simple tasks can be the most difficult to create. I spent a lot of time wanting to make Maurice's folder specifically for him and tried to base everything around things that he would enjoy and that he would benefit from. I think that by completing this assignment, I will be a more creative thinker which will benefit me in the clinical field. This assignment required me to think out of the box and try to get some creative juices flowing and I was impressed with the result. It's important to be client-centered and think about not only what will help them reach their goals, but centering it around something they will enjoy and do because they want to without dreading it, and if I was Maurice, this would be my new favorite item that would constantly keep me busy :)

Pat Summitt - Alzheimer's Disease

I chose to write my third neuro note on a disease I believe gets overlooked sometimes and that people categorize with only elderly people. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and occurs most frequently in people older than 60. Three main pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the excessive amounts of beta-amyloid protein in the brain, tangles in the neurons, and loss of neuronal connections. As the disease progresses, the brain actually shrinks dramatically, which affects all of the functions of the brain. At this time, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, however, there are medications that can slow down the progression and symptoms. I watched a documentary on Pat Summitt provided on YouTube at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3c96iQ1pVc
I encourage everyone to watch the documentary about her life and hear about Alzheimer's through Pat Summitt herself, and then to get involved advocating for the disease as well as informing yourself and others about Alzheimer's disease. I have also provided links at the bottom of the page to her foundation website where you can find additional resources on Alzheimer's disease.

Pat Summitt is no stranger to the Tennessee Vol community. She is the winningest college basketball coach in men's or women's basketball. Summitt was highly respected by her players, her co-workers, her opponents, and most importantly to her, her son, Tyler. Tyler grew up on the sidelines with his mom, and was almost born at a recruit's house (this just proves how dedicated Pat was to the game and her players). In interviews with several people who spent a lot of time with Pat, now head coach of the Lady Vols Basketball team, Holly Warlick, stated that they started noticing something was wrong when Pat could only do a couple things at once whereas she used to be able to juggle 5 or 6 different things at one time. Her son, Tyler, also noticed she wasn't acting herself, so they decided to go to her primary care physician, where they referred her to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
After several full body tests and scans, the doctors diagnosed Pat Summitt with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, at the young age of 59. It was certainly a shock for Pat, Tyler, her team, and the Vol community. But Pat faced dementia the best way she knew how - to fight it straight on. With Pat being a competitor all her life, she said she was going to "train" and "practice" everyday to beat her "opponent" and even if the opponent is unbeatable, no one can tell her that she didn't try her hardest. She woke up every morning and played matching games on her iPad, put together puzzles, exercised, took her dogs on a walk, or did crossword puzzles. She wanted to make sure she was keeping her brain sharp. She also had decided that she would continue as the head coach of the Lady Vols Basketball team until she, or her team, thought that her dementia had gotten to a point where she would no longer be able to be their fearless leader. Just a year after she was diagnosed, she decided to step down as head coach, but still attend practices and games.

Pat Summitt knew that she was facing her toughest opponent and that getting the "win" at the end was not a possibility, but she wanted to do everything she could to provide help with the research and funding. In November of 2011, she announced her foundation, The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund.Since her diagnosis and the creation of her foundation, over $800,000 in grants and financial support has been awarded to non-profits that conduct research for a cure, provide patients and caregivers with support, and promote the awareness of Alzheimer's disease. The Pat Summitt Foundation is raising $2.5 million to grant to the University of Tennessee Medical Center and will devote 100% of the donations to help launch The Pat Summitt Alzheimer's Clinic.
Pat and Tyler Summitt both wanted to inform people of Alzheimer's because he said that at some point, everyone would be touched by the disease. With the Pat Summitt Foundation website, they wanted to provide links to resources about dementia, Alzheimer's, as well as information about the disease and how you can donate.

Alzheimer's is not just a disease present in older people, however, that is the most common. Pat Summitt wanted to leave the legacy that Alzheimer's can happen to anybody, of any age, and it's all about how you respond to the disease. Tyler also made sure to say that with Alzheimer's, he knew that his mother's memory would fade and all of the memories they made together wouldn't be remembered by Pat, but he felt it was important to continuously make new memories with her.
Growing up UT fans, I've watched Pat Summitt coach since I was a little girl. When hearing that she was diagnosed with a disease that I had watched my 85 year old great-grandmother suffer from, I was confused because I thought "only old people get Alzheimer's", which is a common misconception of the disease.

Five short years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Pat Summitt sadly passed away. In the live viewing of her celebration of life in Thompson-Boling Arena, where Pat Summitt was the head coach, it was evident the lives she touched and the difference she made not only in sports and academics, but also how much awareness she had raised about Alzheimer's. She had a positive outlook from the day she was diagnosed and she wanted to make the best out of the time she had left, which is the most important thing I learned while reading her story.

"It is what it is. But, it will be what you make it."

 - Pat Summitt

 

References:  

“Episode 2: Pat's Story.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 Mar. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3c96iQ1pVc. 

 

“The Pat Summitt Foundation.” Pat Summitt's Story | Lady Vols | The Pat Summitt Foundation, www.patsummitt.org/.

utsportstv. “Celebration of Life Service for Pat Summitt.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EvX3cNlf54. 

Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Disease is a chronic, progressive neurological condition resulting from the progressive degeneration and death of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, which is located within the basal ganglia. The average age of diagnosis of Parkinson's disease is 50. Diagnosis is usually done simply by observation, but a PET scan can be administered, with the only downfall being the expense. Normally, some of the first symptoms present are bradykinsesia, a slow movement related to muscle weakness usually associated with an impaired ability to adjust to the body's position, resting tremors, rigidity, and postural instability.
Some additional terms/symptoms associated with PD are:

• Akinesia - the loss or impairment of voluntary movement
• Hypokinesia - partial or complete loss of of muscle movement due to a disruption in the basal ganglia 
• Dyskinesia - abnormality or impairment of voluntary movement
• Autonomic tremor - a peripheral degenerative disorder, usually resulting in orthostatic hypotension 
• Problems with bowel/bladder control
• Sexual health issues
• Pain
• Sleep problems
• Cognitive changes
• Visual-spatial disturbances 
• Emotional health
• Visual hallucinations
• Dementia 

The progression of Parkinson's disease and the degree of impairment vary from individual to individual. There are 5 stages of Parkinson's disease. During stage 1, symptoms are mild and do not interfere with the person's quality of life. In stage 2, the symptoms begin to worsen and the person has more difficulty engaging in activities of daily living. Progressing to stage 3 or Parkinson's disease, this is normally considered mid-stage Parkinson's disease. The individual normally begins to lose balance, more slower, and will often begin to fall more often. During this stage, activities of daily living (such as dressing, eating, and self-care) become very difficult. In stage 4, symptoms become very severe and the individual requires assistance walking as well as ADL's. In the final stage, stage 5, this is considered the most advanced stage of Parkinson's disease. The individual will need full assistance with every aspect of their daily life.

Although there is no treatment to cure Parkinson's disease, there are ways to delay the onset of motor symptoms. The most effective therapy for PD is levodopa which is converted to dopamine in the brain. For individuals with advanced symptoms, deep brain stimulation is an effective treatment option. In DBS, electrodes are implanted in parts of the brain involved in movement.

References:
Heyn, Sietske N., and Charles Patrick Davis. “Parkinson's Disease 17 Early Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Stages.” MedicineNet, www.medicinenet.com/parkinsons_disease/article.htm.

What is Occupational Therapy?

For one of my courses in OT school, we had to make a variation of a concept map on the field of occupational therapy and what we had learned so far. I am definitely the farthest thing from tech savvy, but I wanted to challenge myself and make an animated presentation. So 52 hours later (& with only a few hours to sleep in between) I successfully completed my first animated presentation! Although I don't have what you would call a "presenter's voice", it was fun to get the creative juices flowing & re-record each slide at least 3 times because I didn't like the sound of my own voice! Click the link below to check it out!

https://youtu.be/pEFe9fLjo4c


PS. I am aware of the watermark in the back of the video, but I refuse to pay $300 for a subscription when I won't be using the site much.  (and grad school students don't necessarily make a ton of money... 😉)

PPS. I would HIGHLY recommend www.vyond.com to anyone who develops presentations on a regular basis! It was an extremely simple layout and you can literally make ANYTHING! So I def would give vyond a *2 thumbs up*

Inside the O'Briens

Inside the O’Briens written by Lisa Genova was a great way to illustrate the reality of Huntington’s Disease through the everyday life of a “normal” family. Huntington’s disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disease that causes you to lose control over your ability to move, and affects cognitive thinking and behavior. The disease is autosomal dominant, meaning that offspring of people with HD will have a 50/50 chance of also inheriting the disease.

In the book, Lisa Genova did a wonderful job bringing such an awful disease to life and being so raw with her words to make you feel like you were actually apart of the O’Brien family. It doesn’t affect just the person with the disease, but it truly takes a toll on the entire family. Physically, mentally, and even spiritually. Joe O’Brien, who is the strong, fearless leader of the family finds out that he has HD, everything starts to come full circle and he realizes the real reason his mother died. When he and his wife eventually tell the rest of the family, you really begin to see everyone’s true colors. Each of their real personalities begin to arise. You see the ones who live in fear of every trip, every fall, every mishap, being a symptom of HD, but at the same time, being too scared to know the truth and live with the thought that HD will kill them (Katie and Patrick). You see the ones who have no choice but to find out if they carry the gene because they are trying or have already started a family of their own and want to know if they will pass the gene down to their offspring or it will end with them (JJ). And then we see the ones like Meghan. The ones who don’t give it a second thought and agree to be tested and face the disease head on. Meghan has a positive attitude, loves where she’s at in life, and is going to live every day to the fullest and take full advantage of every opportunity she’s given while she’s still healthy enough to do what she loves: ballet.

I think it’s important to realize that with Huntington’s Disease, you never know your fate. But then again, nobody knows their fate. Not even people who are perfectly healthy. In Inside the O’Briens, we see that Katie lives in fear of the unknown of her genetic makeup, and also in fear of her future if she does have it. I think it’s even more important to realize that even without Huntington’s Disease, you don’t know your fate. It was made clear several times throughout the book that everybody is going to die. I think this was a very powerful outlook on the disease, every disease, and life in general. No matter what you have, or what you don’t have, you will die regardless.

After finishing the book and realizing the ending wasn’t exactly how I pictured the author to leave her readers, I think it’s a perfect representation of the underlying message in the book. Regardless of knowing, or not knowing, ultimately, we do know. Maybe we don’t what Katie’s genetic testing for Huntington’s Disease was, but that isn’t what matters. What matters is that she finally did something that she wanted to do and didn’t base her decision off of something she couldn’t do anything about. I would highly recommend this book and I encourage people to read it, not only to gain insight on an overlooked genetic disease, but also to raise awareness and see the underlying messages that Lisa Genova so wonderfully wrote about.

“Life is a near-death experience. Stumble around in giddy gratitude while you still can.”

– Jen Sincero

Occupational Profile

Name: Joe O’Brien

Client Report	Reason the client is seeking OT services and concerns related to engagement in occupations (may include the client’s general health status)	Client seeks OT services after being diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. Client is concerned with abnormal behaviors such as rage, anger, chorea, balance issues, memory loss, and other symptoms that come along with HD.
	Occupations in which the client is successful and barriers or potential barriers to his/her success in those occupations (p. S5)	Client is successful in driving, eating, self-care, sleeping and walking dog. Barriers include loss of balance/falling, dropping things, arriving to work late, frequent memory loss/remembering issues, writing unorganized/incorrect police reports
	Personal interests and values (p. S7)	Values wife, children, family, dog Yaz, friends, RedSox baseball, his job as a Boston police officer
	The client’s occupational history/life experiences	Current police officer for the Boston PD, was a witness and assisted with victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing, husband, mother died from HD, father died from prostate cancer
	Performance patterns (routines, habits, & rituals) – what are the client’s patterns of engagement in occupations and how have they changed over time? What are the client’s daily life roles? Note patterns that support and hinder occupational performance. (p. S8)	Lives on the 1st floor of a 3-story house with his wife Rosie, son Patrick, and dog Yaz. ROUTINES: wakes up, self-care, breakfast cooked by his wife, goes to work as a police officer, occasionally works overtime directing traffic outside of Fenway Park, or outside of a concert. Working long hours affect his balance from standing so much, and his knee that has been bothering him. ROLES: husband, father, police officer, friend, co-worker, crime-fighter/law-enforcer, grandfather. His forgetful mind hinders him from remembering important details, or any details at all, for writing them in his reports which are negatively affecting his job.
Context	Aspects of the client’s environments or contexts, as viewed by the client (p. S28)	Supports to Occupational Engagement:	Barriers to Occupational Engagement:
	Physical	Walks the dog, which keeps him in shape and could help to prolong symptoms of HD.	Loses his balance and is unstable and falls easily and frequently, which could be unsafe.
	Social	All of the O’Briens live in the same house, so they can help if they are needed. RedSox baseball, going to have a few beers with friends, and his new grandson provide distraction from recent diagnosis of HD.	Recent persuasion of quitting job as a Boston police officer increases stress and gives him more time to think of the disease he has and hinders him from interacting with people in the community at work.
	Cultural	Is Catholic, but quit going to church several years ago, but has recently started walking to church after services to pray alone.	Doesn’t know if what he is believing in or praying to is helping him mentally, which increases constant fear and worry for his future. Also adds on to long list of mental issues he already inherited from HD.
	Personal	44 y/o male. Grew up in Boston. Mentally strong leader who does everything he can to provide for his family, even though it’s not much.	Worries that family will lose all hope if he shows signs of defeat from HD.
	Temporal	Is trying to positively look towards the future and see his new grandson grow up, and also trying new things and checking off experiences of his bucket list.	Sees the emotional and physical hurt on his wife’s face and body of the pain she is feeling having to adapt to new lifestyle dealing with husband and children suffering from HD, which doesn’t help his emotional state and makes him sad, when he should be finding every positive aspect in life at the moment to prolong HD progression.
	Virtual	Watching the Boston Red Sox on the television with his family allows him time and ability to create memories together and bond over something they love.	Sometimes the remote is not near his chair, and he struggles to get up without falling if he is at home alone. Also, by getting up to get the remote, he is putting himself in danger of falling and hurting himself.
Client Goals	Client’s priorities and desired target outcomes (consider occupational performance – improvement and enhancement, prevention, participation, role competence, health & wellness, quality of life, well-being, and/or occupational justice) (p. S34)	Be able to prolong progression and symptoms of Huntington’s Disease and spend more time with family and watch children and grandchildren grow up without having HD. Client wants to be able to button and unbutton clothes without issues, walk without falling, and do everyday tasks without being stared at or judged by community.

Genova, L. (2015). Inside the O'Briens. New York City, NY: Gallery Books.