RSCC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program

In the war against aging, Alzheimer's disease is one of our biggest foes. But while we seem to be losing the battle, we may finally have found some chinks in its armor. The most common form of dementia already affects an estimated 5.2 million Americans and 45 million others worldwide, and these numbers are projected to triple by the year 2050 as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement.

Even though Alzheimer's disease fell into our psycho-social class, it still is a huge component of the ageing process for many people, and a condition that we will most likely be dealing with.

This is a great list of energy conservation tips ideas for patients. I thought this was a great reference list since we were discussing cardiopulmonary patients who really need to learn about energy conservation. This breaks down the ideas into: Rearrange Your Environment, Elminate Unneccessary Effort, Planning Ahead, and Priortizing. This is a great reference list for energy conservation.

Actually, I can and in some cases do, use these tips as well! Gotta save that energy.

A mix of events and speakers and fun will come together next week on the University of Tennessee campus. It's part of Disability Week. (WBIR-Downtown) A mix of events and speakers and fun will come together next week on the University of Tennessee campus. It's part of Disability Week.

I found this article to be very interesting. It supplies tips on bathing for patients that have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. These patients tend to be resistant to a bath but I feel many clients are. When you think about someone bathing you it takes away all your dignity and privacy. This article gives us tips to make this a more comfortable situation for our clients.

This article is about how you to choose the correct monitor and what you should do to get the best reading. There are a couple of things that you need to check before you take your BP or it could affect the way your BP reads. The main thing that I think that we need to know is that there are certain cuff sizes and they could affect the reading if its to small or big. There are some other neat tips to make sure you get the right reading.

This article shows many types of LE amputee, their medical intervention and their pre and post rehabilition

This may be old news from almost a year ago, but i found this on the Vanderbilt website about how Dr. Michael Goldfarb has been working on robotic legs that emulates healthy limbs. It explains his research and his building of these legs. I found in the article that Dr. Goldfarb was also named one of the top 10 innovators who changed the world in 2013 for developing an exoskeleton that allows paraplegics to stand up and walk.

Tips for pursed lip breathing and pulmonary rehabilitation. When you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, shortness of breath may be a daily and unwelcome fact of life. Perhaps your doctor is urging you to enter a pulmonary rehabilitation program to help you manage your disease better.

Understanding your blood pressure readings and making sure they are accurate are first steps toward getting control. Regular and accurate monitoring will help you keep it under control. This article has 7 pages with very helpful tips. Everything you need to know about BP

This appendix discusses two issues that arise when translating scientific evidence into physical activity guidance for the public: In scientific terms, total weekly physical activity in the range of 500 to 1,000 MET-minutes produces substantial health benefits for adults. How should this finding be simplified and translated into Guidelines that are understandable by the public?

This is a great reference chart for MET levels.   It divides it up into self care, household, recreational, and vocational activities.  This is a great reference to see what ADLs and IADLs have MET levels from light all the way up to very heavy MET levels.

I like that one! Thank you!

This is a blog that I found in AOTA blogs and it is a must read for all. It gives something to consider about occupational therapy for everyone, not just OT students or professionals. Occupational therapy is the best of all worlds and needed in every realm of life and this man hits the nail on the head in my opinion.

This address should take you to the "Amputee OT" video. Please let me know if it doesn't. An OT that is also an amputee narrates and demonstrates how a prosthetic running leg is made. It is amazing how much precision and details are used to get the best fit for a running prosthesis.

2000 Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass, Inc. Physical restraints are items used to restrict, restrain or prevent movement of a person. Examples of restraints include belts, vest restraints, cuffs and sometimes special chairs or bed siderails. Whether or not a particular item is considered a physical restraint depends on the purpose and effect of its use.

I thought this website was really interesting, because it tells us what to expect for UE and LE surgeries. Hip replacement protocols are on here too (total, anterior, posterior). it also tells us what to look for like infection or swelling, or what modalities to use. I hope this is helpful or interesting to read about!

This may be old news to some individuals but these are some pretty cool feature for individuals with certain, as Jennifer Isham would say, diffabilities. As OTA it is our job to keep our client connected and active in the activities they love. What better way to accomplish this than by teaching them these neat feature on their telephone which make the phones accessible. Communication through the telephone is necessary and with the majority of phones being smart phones they also needs to be implemented as an assistive device to help individuals throughout the day. Not only are the accessibility features very useful but other features on the smart phone can serve as a useful tool for some cognitive deficits such as short term memory loss. For example, the phone can remind them of appointments or to take medications. The Android system, whether you own an LG G3, Galaxy S4 or Nexus 5, has a number of accessibility options built in for those hard of hearing, suffering from a vision impairment or any other number of other conditions that might make the standard operation of your Android difficult.

Since we need to know the cardiovascular system and it has been a while since we have had A&P, I thought this video would be a great refresher. Enjoy :)

I love this song. PUMP. Blood. PUMP. Blood :)

Good info in this article. With many different links on the side with more details about hip replacement. After my accident in 2004, the doctor told me I will, one day, have to have my hip replaced. So this information is very interesting to me and also to share with what we are covering in class.

Background: in older ambulatory persons, exercise strategies that are expected to generate beneficial muscle adaptations with low cardiopulmonary demands are needed. Objective: we hypothesised that eccentric resistance exercise would be less demanding on the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems than bouts of concentric resistance exercise.

informative article…nice

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