Yes, I agree 100% with your statement. BUT most patients that I see are
not at the point of compensation. And besides, I don't think that
compensation is really a big part of medicine. I just can't see me going
to a doctor and saying;
" If you have any patients who can't use their arms, hands, legs,
etc. then send them to me so I can teach them how to compensate"
Maybe this SHOULD be the role of OT but it is one role that in my
opinion is not highly promoted, practiced or warranted for many of our
patients.
Ron
----- Original Message -----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subj: [OTlist] Occupation
Enrc> Ok - I understand what you're saying, but let's just say that it was
Enrc> not possible that this person receive a lens replacement and everything
Enrc> did not get better and the problem could not be fixed. In this case,
Enrc> occupation and compensation WOULD come to the forefront, no?
Enrc> ----- Original Message -----
Enrc> From: Ron Carson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Enrc> Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 7:34 am
Enrc> Subject: [OTlist] Occupation
Enrc> To: [email protected]
>> Hello All:
>>
>> Recently Biraj pointed out that I:
>>
>> > always championed and advocated, very strongly I might
>> add,> occupation-based practice but now it seems [I am]
>> extremely> disappointed of anything the term has to do with in the
>> OT profession.
>>
>> Biraj is correct about my past vocalizations but today I don't
>> feel that
>> I am disappointed about occupation. I still feel the same
>> aboutoccupation but I think that I am becoming a bit jaded
>> at trying to
>> integrate occupation into my private practice. You see,
>> occupation is
>> important, it's important to ALL of us, but what I am
>> discovering is
>> that treating occupational deficits does not fit well with my
>> clientsbecause clients don't consider occupational deficits to be
>> the problem.
>> Here's a non-OT story to make my point.
>>
>> Recently, someone I know was diagnosed with cataracts. The
>> cataractsaffected his vision to the point that modifications were
>> needed to read,
>> work and play. Now, what do you think this person saw as the
>> problem;cataracts or occupations. Obviously, the impact on his
>> occupation is
>> what brought the cataracts to the forefront and motivated him to
>> seek a
>> lens replacement, but cataracts are the problem, not the
>> loss of
>> occupation. So, the person received a lens replacement and
>> everything is
>> getting better. Well, how does this 'story' apply to OT.
>>
>> Simple, our clients are seeking answers to problems. They want
>> theseproblems fixed. But the problems are not occupation, the
>> problems are
>> things like weakness, loss of balance, developmental delay,
>> depression,etc. Clients see these 'components' as the problem and
>> this is what they
>> expect their therapist to address. This is the way the entire
>> world of
>> medicine works and for OT to be any different just doesn't work.
>>
>> What I think needs to be done is for our patients to recognize
>> loss of
>> occupation as the primary problem. Then, they recognize the need
>> for an
>> occupational therapist. And as far as I can tell, the ONLY way
>> that this
>> is going to happen on a large scale is for AOTA to put
>> together a
>> NATIONAL ad campaign directed at educating people about
>> occupation and
>> thus occupational therapy.
>>
>> Finally, there are settings were occupation is the concern but
>> about the
>> only one that I know of is long-term mental health. And
>> given that
>> therapeutic occupation is rooted in mental health, this makes
>> perfectsense. But for the majority of OT's working in the US,
>> I think that
>> trying to integrate occupation as our main form and outcome is
>> a lost
>> battle, unless patients are EDUCATED, INTEGRATE and
>> EXPERIENCEoccupation-based therapy.
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
>>
>>
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