Well said, Chris.
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail The information contained in this electronic document from Advanced Home Care is privileged and confidential information intended for the sole use of [email protected]. If the reader of this communication is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the person listed above and discard the original.-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2009 12:08 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [OTlist] Dental Hygienst Knows About OT... I see the horse is not dead yet!!!! This age old debate revolves around the top down approach and the bottom up approach to treatment, or the occupation as a means or an end. We as OTs in physical disabilities can choose either to treat occupational dysfunction in two ways a) Use occupations as the treatment modality to combat the issue of occupational dysfunction either through restoration or compensation or b) Treat the underlying impairment. In my opinion it simply depends on what is causing the occupational dysfunction. If an occupational takes an interest in hand therapy and they decide to specialize in this area (PTs can do this too) then I would say that the occupational therapist is doing hand therapy. I would not state that they are doing physical therapy because this is a gray area. Perhaps a physical therapist takes an interest in visual perceptual training ( my PT friend did) because of their strong background in neurorehabilitation. When they utilize this training during treatment sessions to facilitate better outcomes with gait and balance, would they state that they are doing occupational therapy? What if a PT takes a liking to driving evals and training (IADL),. Would they call it occupational therapy or drivers training? What Ron is simply trying to do is change the paradigm of occupatonal therapy and simply rewrite the textbooks we once read in school, by erasing the biomechanical model. I applaud him to a certain extent, but at times I an confused by his reasoning. Hand Therapy does not necessarily mean a cone or peg pusher therapist. A Hand therapist does not necessarily give the pubilic a certain image of what OT is , but it is the misguided therapist that provides OT without meaning in order complete enough time to reach a certain RUG level or complete the "Three hour rule". I do not think it is Ron's intent to upset all of the OTs who practice hand therapy, but to guide phys dys OTs to provide meaning during their therapy sessions in order to clean up the public perception of what we do. Chris Nahrwold MS, OTR.. -----Original Message----- From: Ron Carson <[email protected]> To: Kristin <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:04 pm Subject: Re: [OTlist] Dental Hygienst Knows About OT... Kristin, I don't really know where to start, so let me just jump in. In my opinion, the BIGGEST problem facing OT is that we do not do what we say we do. Comparing AOTA's rhetoric and practice patterns of adult phys dys OT's does not paint a congruent picture. On paper, the OT profession is all about occupation. In practice, adult phys dys is all about UE rehab. For me, this inconsistency is killing our profession! I'm going to disagree with some of what you've written: 1) A broken finger may or may not cause occupational deficits. And even if it does, these deficits may not require the skill of an OT. 2) I don't care if the hygienist had a good or bad experience. I do care if the experience revolved around occupation. 3) Occupation should NOT be things talked about during rote therapy. Occupation should be the FOCUS and outcome of treatment. 4) The profession needs therapists who are experts in occupation. Leave the UE specialization to PT. Disclaimer: My comments are not directed towards YOU. They are just general comments about how I feel towards OT. Everyone is welcome to join this conversation. Only through honest and logical dialogue will we better understand and appreciate everyone's viewpoints. Thanks, Ron ~~~ Ron Carson MHS, OT www.OTnow.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Kristin <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subj: [OTlist] Dental Hygienst Knows About OT... K> I guess I dont understand why it's such a horrible thing for OT's to K> be knowledgeable and profiecient in treating UE ailments. I agree K> that shouldn't be the only area for the profession to focus on, but K> having a broken finger causes dysfunctional occupational performance! K> At least the dental hygenist had a good experience with OT as opposed K> to the 'cone therapists'. I would be interested to hear if the K> therapist discussed what the patient could do at home to reduce pain K> and improve function. The things we should be talking about when K> performing more rote therapy techniques. K> I think the profession needs OT's who are UE specialists! We don't K> want to loose that specialty area! K> Kristin -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
