Immobilizing your hand at night can be very crucial for some patients. I thought this website on how to make a homemade splint was very interesting and quite simple to make. I would recommend asking the doctor or therapist before using it, But some people prefer to do for themselves and this could be a good thing for that. Also you could incorporate the splint making in an actual therapeutic activity.
This isn't a long article but I thought it ties into our evidence based papers that we have done for school. This guy thinks in the future that Occupational Therapists AND Occupational Therapy Assistants will have to use evidence-based research to justify interventions. (In other words, it's not stopping once we graduate)!
"Michael Graham expects the next five years to bring an even greater focus on evidence-based care. The 14-year OTR believes there will be greater expectations for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants more quickly implement evidence-based approaches into their practice."
This is a news video about a fitness instructor diagnosed (finally) with Rheumatoid Arthritis. She was in her forties and doctors didn't get the right diagnosis for awhile. This is her story on how to live with the disease.
This video is a little long but it is very descriptive and shows exactly how the instructions are supposed to be told to the pt. Watching other people helps me remember better, maybe it will help you also!
So this is a more broad link but I love it! It shows multiple jokes about stress that should actually make you laugh! It is the middle of the semester now and I feel like we could all use a good laugh and some stress relief! So why not both at the same time?? Just take a look!
I heard this on the radio today and had to share after I investigated ...this should bring up a video... with all the talk about the movie Back to the Future officially being in the past after tomorrow, nike plans to unveil self-tying shoe laces like the ones Marty had in the movie! The first thought in my head was how many people that could actually benefit from this if it works. I just kept picturing the COTA I was with during level 1 FW putting the elastic laces in several patients shoes. I hope this becomes a reality for people who need it, not lazy people who just want cool shoes that CAN and are ABLE to tie their shoes!
I really liked this article because it goes into detail about several different PAMs. But it also goes on to explain in more detail how it should be used as a preparatory activity, and also has different principles to follow when administering or when giving certain tasks to others. I think this is definitely a very good article to have access to that talks about all aspects of using PAMs in therapy.
This site gives a general overview of infection control. It does not go into specifics but I liked it because it shares many links about many different aspects of infection control. I like that I can go to this page, get a general understanding and then have so many more links in one place for my access.
This is a documentary that follows 3 teenage girls with autism as they get ready for prom, and learn how to transition into adulthood. Education and early intervention is important with ASD, but as OTAs we also need to remember that these individuals will be dealing with their autistic symptoms for most of their life. This documentary gives us a glimpse into their lives, relationships, families, and therapy sessions as they learn the social rules and cues of the adult world. I wish I had HBO so I could watch this. I encourage all of you to watch it if you can. It looks like a beautiful documentary that shows the basic desire we all have to be loved and accepted.