Hi Pat, Have you tried scrap booking? It is a kind of "in thing" now days and it seems to work well with a chronic pain population. These types of patients tend to enter the same grieving process that terminally ill patients suffer, and the scrap booking process tends to engage them in life review. It can be a great mood elevator and offers wonderful distraction from the pain experience.
The workbook "Managing Pain Before It Manages You" is an excellent resource for chronic pain patients. The activities may not be all fun but they are goal directed and produce solid results. It was written by Dr. Margaret A. Caudill, MD. Jimmie -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of pat Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 7:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [OTlist] fun(ny) PTs?? I may be contacting you about that Tammy... my supervisor was talking about incorporating animals at some point. My own dogs are too old and have health problems, but one day a patient brought her own little dog in a carrier and the other patients loved it. I only work with adults, and right now my patients range in age from about 40 to 70... but they love activities that you would think of as "kid stuff". Thanks for the suggestion! Pat At 08:40 PM 2/16/2005, you wrote: >Pat, > >I can appreciate your frustration with not getting the response from >groups that you had hoped. I think we become so focused on goals that we >tend to forget that a good therapist can take nearly any activity and make >it therapeutic, irregardless of the actual defined goal. > >It seems that the standard things that I have observed in a clinic or >hospital setting include the same things that you have mentioned. Now, >with my past career eperience, I have something to recommend, because it >is a great group activity for any age. I incorporate animals into the >group. The activities that you can do with animals are endless: tossing >toys, grooming, brushing teeth (my dog loves to have the patients do >this), walking, reminiscing, etc, etc. etc. I know this is one idea out >of thousands that are out there, but this is one that seems to transcend >so many different ages and populations. > >If you need some help finding someone in your area, please let me know. I >used to coordinate an "award winning" program that brought animals into >hospitals, plus I trained and evaluated people and their pets for such >work. I have a lot of experience in policy development, infection control >practices, risk management, and marketing of these programs. It is what I >did for nearly 10 years BEFORE I became an OT. I now have my own dog come >to our pediatric clinic. All therapists use her in sessions (PT, OT, and >speech). The things kids (and adults) will do to interact with an animal >is amazing!! > >Hope this is of help to you! >Tammy > >pat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >This past weekend I attended an 8 hr. continuing ed class called >"Rediscovering Fun in Rehabilitation". It wasn't at all what I had >expected or wanted, but it was by far the best class I have ever been >to. It was 8 hrs of sheer fun and laughter and well worth the airline >tickets and hotel room. I almost hate to admit that it was run by >a PT. He talked a lot about the history of PT and where PT was >going, but it was interesting to hear that "they" have many of the same >concerns we do. I felt kind of like a fly on the wall eavesdropping on a >secret society. > >What I was looking for was fun ideas for the patients... things I could do >with them in group therapy that would be an active respite from the rest of >the 8 hr day they put in (it's a pain management program, 40 hrs a week for >6 weeks). What I got was new ways of thinking for therapists who are on >the verge of being burned out (or already there) and dread going to >work. Pay attention Ron... I recently revisited a thread that was almost a >year old where you talked about losing your passion for OT, and this >guy is in FLORIDA!! (He goes to several other states though) In spite of >the fact that he's a PT, the class is hilarious and very relevant to OTs.. >and it's only $89 for 8 CEUs! If anyone is interested, his name is Michael >Niss and his website is www.cheapceus.com > >Unfortunately, I am in the same position I was before attending that >class... I still need fresh ideas for group activities. We do things like >volleyball with a beach ball, hitting a balloon back and forth with >flyswatters (one of their favorites), ring toss, toss across, and similar >games. I posted this question on AOTAs listserv but all I got was "What >are your goals?" and "What do you want to accomplish?" My goal is fun for >the patients, it's a long day... and it doesn't hurt if there is some >physical activity thrown in. There must be someone on this list that does >different group activities and is willing to share? Please? > >Pat > > > >-- >Unsubscribe? >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Change options? >www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com > >Archive? >www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > >Help? >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >Tammy Renaud, MA, OTR >Jumpstart >Animals helping kids with the job of living. >-- >Unsubscribe? > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Change options? > www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com > >Archive? > www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > >Help? > [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Unsubscribe? [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Help? [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** NOTICE--The attached communication contains privileged and confidential information. 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