“Medicine Adds Days to Live, Occupational Therapists Add Life to Days”- Unknown.
Being not able to fly high as you would like, in terms of being able to do any of your occupations as much as you want because of life-changing events is scary and depressing. Being unable to be you just like you were before can be too much for everyone to handle. Life is unpredictable, so they say. Having to live with a certain condition or being diagnosed with a diagnosis at a certain stage of life can be too demanding for a person and require a client-centered intervention.
The OTPF 4th edition (http://carrieschmittotd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AOTA-Occupational-Therapy-Practice-Framwork-OTPF-4th-edition.pdf. ) mentions that just like any medical profession we share the same process when planning a treatment intervention as OT’s: we evaluate, intervene and target outcomes but then OT have something different. Occupational therapy is a profession known for its client-centredness and holistic intervention. This means that we must focus on using what is meaningful to the client to make a difference in their lives, hence why a thorough assessment is important. I understand client-centredness as a person-directed intervention because it must focus on what a patient likes, is expected to do, needs to do, and wants to do.
Knowing this but not knowing how to use it when planning one of the client’s subprograms resulted in a therapist-based intervention. I used all leisure activities that I thought were going to help me improve the impacted client factors such as hand function, active range of motion, and muscle strength. I planned a session and the client engaged very well when implemented which I thought is what was supposed to happen only to find out that the client did not relate to what we were doing in the session because it was not part of any of her likes. I was happy during the session because of her participation, and it was short-lived when I realized that the client does not relate to the session we had. This takes us back to why critical planning is important, you can have a look at one of my blogs trying to explain that: https://www.tumblr.com/mzeken/715046142108401664/week-1-blog?source=share
“You must find a balance between the client’s therapeutic activities and the client”, Zainab Ayob. This was a life-changing statement for me as a student therapist. This opened my eyes that I will have to focus on the client’s interests,  previous occupational engagement, roles, habits, and hobbies when planning to have a more meaningful and client-centered intervention. We must use what is within the client’s preference when planning intervention. This also created a picture of why involving the client during goal setting is an important part of intervention planning so that they will be aware of why certain things are done which I didn’t take into consideration when planning.
This opportunity to plan and implement intervention taught me that with every diagnosis be it CVA or Spinal cord, thorough assessment and goal setting together with the client is important. Our goal as OTs is to add meaning to every day by making sure we aim for the highest level of independence with every patient. Â Another note: Whenever you planned a session do not only focus on improving what you have written down just like I did on my sessions but learned that look for any other arising opportunities. Medicine adds days to life, but occupational therapists add life to days. As occupational therapist students let us start practicing aiming for a meaningful life in every stage of our patients by adapting to client-centered intervention!
The following link also explains very well how OT intervention is different from other professions: (https://www.regiscollege.edu/blog/occupational-therapy/what-does-occupational-therapist-do-roles-and-responsibilities.)
(594- words)
Being not able to fly high as much as you want because of life-changing events is scary and depressing. Being unable to be you just like you were before can be too much for everyone to handle. Life is unpredictable, so they say. Having to live with a certain condition or being diagnosed with a diagnosis at a certain stage of life can be too demanding for a person and require a client-centered intervention.
The OTPF 4th edition (http://carrieschmittotd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AOTA-Occupational-Therapy-Practice-Framwork-OTPF-4th-edition.pdf. ) mentions that just like any medical profession we share the same process when planning a treatment intervention as OT’s: we evaluate, intervene and target outcomes but then OT have something different, (Hanna & Rodger 2002). Occupational therapy is a profession known for its client-centredness and holistic intervention. This means that we must focus on using what is meaningful to the client to make a difference in their lives, hence why a thorough assessment is important. I understand client-centredness as a person-directed intervention because it must focus on what a patient likes, is expected to do, needs to do, and wants to do.
Knowing this but not knowing how to use it when planning one of the client’s subprograms resulted in a therapist-based intervention. I used all leisure activities that I thought were going to help me improve the impacted client factors such as hand function, active range of motion, and muscle strength. I planned a session and the client engaged very well when implemented which I thought is what was supposed to happen only to find out that the client did not relate to what we were doing in the session because it was not part of any of her likes. I was happy during the session because of her participation, and it was short-lived when I realized that the client does not relate to the session we had. This takes us back to why critical planning is important, you can have a look at one of my blogs trying to explain that: https://www.tumblr.com/mzeken/715046142108401664/week-1-blog?source=share
“You must find a balance between the client’s therapeutic activities and the client”, Zainab Ayob. This was a life-changing statement for me as a student therapist. This opened my eyes that I will have to focus on the client’s interests,  previous occupational engagement, roles, habits, and hobbies when planning to have a more meaningful and client-centered intervention. We must use what is within the client’s preference when planning intervention. This also created a picture of why involving the client during goal setting is an important part of intervention planning so that they will be aware of why certain things are done which I didn’t take into consideration when planning.
This opportunity to plan and implement intervention taught me that with every diagnosis be it CVA or Spinal cord, thorough assessment and goal setting together with the client is important. Our goal as OTs is to add meaning to every day by making sure we aim for the highest level of independence with every patient. Â Another note: Whenever you planned a session do not only focus on improving what you have written down just like I did on my sessions but learned that look for any other arising opportunities. Medicine adds days to life, but occupational therapists add life to days. As occupational therapist students let us start practicing aiming for a meaningful life in every stage of our patients by adapting to client-centered intervention!
The following link also explains very well how OT intervention is different from other professions: (https://www.regiscollege.edu/blog/occupational-therapy/what-does-occupational-therapist-do-roles-and-responsibilities.)
(598- words)
