Hello from a long time lurker, first time poster. I am one of those OT's being criticized for having patients play cards, stand and fold/hang up laundry, etc for standing tolerance. I don't do these activities because I am lazy, but am actually trying the best I can to be functional in less-than-ideal environments and situations. First of all, I never learned real-world OT activities that are truly functional. In school, every case study had two things in common; the first is that there was some hidden passion that was just waiting to be discovered by the OT (she used to love water painting, or something like that) the second was that there seemed to be unlimited time in which to engage patients, and facilities with unlimited funds and space. My fieldwork placements were very medically oriented and did not give me much in the way of functional treatment ideas.
So in my situation, I work in a SNF. Most of the patients we see are long-term or live in the ALF side. We have a tiny gym, no kitchen, no ADL suites, and limited equipment. I do a.m. ADL's as much as I can, but can only do 1-2 in the morning (all residents have to be in the dining room by 8). Sure, I have patients get things from dressers and work on transfers in the gym, but the reality is that I have 6-8 people in the gym at once (the PT and I do not split treatment but treat everyone in the same room, basically together). The things mentioned about take all of 15 minutes, but I have to see these patients for an hour. I always try to find out their interests both now and before they lived in the nursing home but it is often without much success. I am not making excuses, rather I am asking for ideas. I am always searching the net and journals for more functional treatment ideas, and do not find much. On the boards, I see a lot of "OT's shouldn't do that, we should be more creative" but that is easy to say without offering any solutions. I also see a lot of "well, go to Home Health" but obviously we can't all do that, and I enjoy the SNF setting. What I am asking for with this post is real-world ideas. I am hungry for them but see little offered. Ron, how about doing a seminar? Most of the seminars offered are medically oriented but offer few functional treatment ideas. What do others in my situation do? Thanks, Ilene from Jersey -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
