Good question Carmen. The ONLY way that I know is for AOTA to start a national ad campaign about occupation. Advertising is about creating a need for goods or services where no need previously existed. In my opinion, AOTA must SELL patients, doctors and insurance companies on the concept of occupation. But, for this to work, ALL involved entities (including OTs) must 'buy into' the concepts of occupation. I guess it's back to the future because as I understand it, this is exactly how OT started.
To me, it would be sooooooooooooooo much better if instead of Backpack Awareness, AOTA promoted something like Occupation awareness. And yes, I think AOTA needs to put together advertisement using the word OCCUPATION!!! And then OT must practice what is being preached. Right now, our profession is so franchised, it's pathetic!!! Just today, even though I clearly have "OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY" on my work shirt, I was called a PT. And a few hours later, I was actually stopped on the street by someone who said that there wife needed OT. Care to guess what for??? Nope, it was because of an occupational problem. It was because of an upper extremity problem. When asked, the patient said that she had OT and PT while in rehab and that she needed more OT because her arm was still not working correctly. Unfortunately, I could not see the women because my company is not on her insurance plan, and there is an apparent shortage of outpatient OT's in my area, so I referred her to an outpatient PT that I know. He called me tonight to say 'thanks'. Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: Carmen Aguirre <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subj: [OTlist] Occupation CA> Ron CA> How would AOTA, or any other entity for that matter, educate CA> people on loss of occupation as a problem that needs to be addressed CA> by a professional... CA> Carmen CA> ----- Original Message ----- CA> From: Ron Carson<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CA> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CA> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 1:44 PM CA> Subject: Re: [OTlist] Occupation CA> Hello Ann (and hopefully others): CA> It seems like you are in agreement with what I'm trying to say. Now, CA> here's where it gets sticky, at least for me. CA> IF, we are meeting client's where they are (i.e. the medical model) what CA> are we doing differently that our PT partners? CA> How does meeting our clients in the medical model mesh with AOTA's CA> Conceptual Framework model? CA> Thanks, CA> Ron CA> ----- Original Message ----- CA> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CA> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> CA> Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 CA> To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> CA> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> CA> Subj: [OTlist] Occupation CA> Dac> If we truly want to be client centered, then I think it is more important to CA> Dac> meet them where THEY are, rather than expecting them to understand where we CA> Dac> are. If we are to work with people who have sustained a medical illness or CA> Dac> injury, they are dealing with it within the medical model - going to their CA> Dac> doctor, possibly trying to treat it with medicine or alternative approaches, but CA> Dac> whatever they are doing, it is within the medical model. To them, the CA> Dac> impairment IS the problem, not the occupation. We may feel that engaging in CA> Dac> occupation will be the most efficient and effective means of giving them back what CA> Dac> they can't even articulate that they want, but it is not(in my opinion) CA> Dac> realistic to expect them to recognize this at the outset. Any education program CA> Dac> geared at people who are not currently experiencing a problem is not going to CA> Dac> be all that effective, as they won't recognize the need to pay attention to CA> Dac> something that has no immediate relevance in their life, and once they have a CA> Dac> problem, it is the problem that they will be focusing on. Since the problem CA> Dac> is their focus, we need to be able to articulate to them how we can help CA> Dac> them with their problem, while we gradually introduce the way in which that CA> Dac> problem may be impacting their occupation and ways in which we can alleviate CA> Dac> that. To continue to garner the referrals, or be recognized as worthy of 3rd CA> Dac> party reimbursement, we need to be able to articulate this within the medical CA> Dac> model to the referral sources and payors as well. They are functioning within CA> Dac> the medical model, and that is where we have to meet them, not try to force CA> Dac> them to meet us outside of that model. CA> Dac> Ann CA> >>> Hello All: CA> >>> CA> >>> Simple, our clients are seeking answers to problems. They want CA> >>> theseproblems fixed. But the problems are not occupation, the CA> >>> problems are CA> >>> things like weakness, loss of balance, developmental delay, CA> >>> depression,etc. Clients see these 'components' as the problem and CA> >>> this is what they CA> >>> expect their therapist to address. This is the way the entire CA> >>> world of CA> >>> medicine works and for OT to be any different just doesn't work. CA> >>> CA> >>> What I think needs to be done is for our patients to recognize CA> >>> loss of CA> >>> occupation as the primary problem. Then, they recognize the need CA> >>> for an CA> >>> occupational therapist. And as far as I can tell, the ONLY way CA> >>> that this CA> >>> is going to happen on a large scale is for AOTA to put CA> >>> together a CA> >>> NATIONAL ad campaign directed at educating people about CA> >>> occupation and CA> >>> thus occupational therapy. CA> >>> Ron CA> -- CA> Unsubscribe? CA> CA> [EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CA> Change options? CA> CA> www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com<http://www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com> CA> Archive? CA> CA> www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> CA> Help? CA> [EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[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]
