RSCC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program

This blog posting talks about the importance of pacing your interactions with those who have dementia. Not all people suffering from dementia will have the same level of cognizance but it is important for us as future OT practitioners to understand that no matter their level of function, clients should always be spoken to as if they are able to respond. The focus in most healthcare settings is to be as efficient with your time as possible, so striking a balance between efficiency and giving your client adequate time to communicate their needs is one of the demands of our client-centered form of care.

The focus of care in OT is often directly on the client, and rightly so, but it is also important to support and educate the caregiver in ways to reduce their stress and provide them with resources such as the article posted here. This article discusses the importance of caregivers self-care, the benefits of attending support groups, and overcoming personal barriers. Being a caregiver is a very tough job both physically and mentally, so it is important that OT practitioners advocate for caregivers as well as the clients for which they care.

This site gives 15 ways to adjust a home for someone with a disability

Grab Bars are one of the most popular safety items for the bathroom. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and configurations while adding form and function to one of the most popular rooms in the home. Here are 7 Grab Bar Installation Tips that we've discovered over the years.

Getting a Leg Up: Toe-Operated Mouse Works Like Flip Flop Loss of upper limb function can be devastating for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the disruption of normal, everyday activities. Using a computer mouse becomes impossible for people without the use of their arms, and it's exceptionally difficult for people with nerve damage or other arm injuries.

is the spill proof automatic drink dispenser making it so much easier to get your drinks. It fits right over your milk jugs, juice bottles and containers, the silicone universal cap fits most tops. Magic Tap works like a straw sucking up the liquid and with the push of the tap out it comes.

Easy-to-attach g-Spout Dripless Strainer lets you pour with one hand, eliminating clumsy funnels and dripping ladles.

fingerprint sensor deadbolt program up to 50 peoples fingerprints. Awesome! No more fumbling for the house key in the dark.

I have found this video to be helpful, even though the makers should have mentioned whether it was a posterolateral or anterolateral THR. Since the "patient" avoided hip flexion past 90 degrees, I assume it was a posterolateral THR.

This video is helpful for teaching patients how to get out of bed after a THR! Unfortunately, it was not mentioned if it was a posterior or anterior THR, but the precautions (no hip bending past 90 degrees) made it fairly clear that this video was made for patients with posterior THR.

This video about bed mobility techniques can be really helpful if you are doing your Level II FW in an in-patient rehabilitation or skilled-nursing setting.

Mostly stuff we talked about in lab briefly, but good reminders, and a few things we didn't discuss.

We really didn't talk about what goes into an FCE very much. This has some good information about how to design one.

This has tons of good information on low vision and a wide variety of aids.

This page just lets you select different foreground and background colors. As someone with vision problems, I found it really helpful to see how my eyes reacted to the different combinations.

This video discusses how manipulating the brain waves can help treat certain diagnosis. I found it to be very interesting!

This is truly inspiring!!! I am just so excited about helping make a difference in a person's life! This video contains true stories of how occupational therapy has impacted lives.

Dream job! I like how this video shows the before and after affects that the riding had on this guy. It explains what is being affected in different parts of the session, so that helps!

This website has a few videos showing assistive technology that we may not have seen in class. these devices will be great to know about so that we can recommend them to the people it would benefit the most.

This semester we had a discussion about older adults and how to help them prevent fells as they age in place. This website gives a detailed list and tips you want to remember to help an older adult prevent falls so that they may age in place safely.