Oh Chris, I sooooo value what I do, and I KNOW that other OT's value what they do. But the PROBLEM, at least in my experience, is that almost no one else TRULY values our contribution. Why?
----- Original Message ----- From: cmnahrw...@aol.com <cmnahrw...@aol.com> Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 To: OTlist@OTnow.com <OTlist@OTnow.com> Subj: [OTlist] Standing cac> "The obvious answer is OT services are NOT invaluable and that cac> patients cac> apparently do just fine when receiving PT only." cac> Hmmm.....I wonder why there is such a continued prevelance of falls at cac> home and readmits into hospitals, because people have not been able to cac> take care of themselves and therefore leading to a downward spiral a) cac> can't get out of bed or do not have the motivation or a reason to get cac> out of bed b) stay in bed for long periods of time c) can't get to cac> their medications cac> We are much more than a profession of arm movers, but a profession that cac> values the patient's well being, and helps by giving people hope that cac> they can continue to live a life of purpose and meaning cac> We can add so much more than.the popular main stream therapies, if we cac> only cared about the lives of our patients. If we only cracked open cac> the book, beyond the surface of each patient in which we encounter to cac> determine how we could potentially help them in a real way. cac> Sorry about all of philosophy, but that comment struck a nerve. cac> Chris cac> -----Original Message----- cac> From: Ron Carson <rdcar...@otnow.com> cac> To: OTlist <OTlist@OTnow.com> cac> Sent: Sat, Aug 29, 2009 5:09 am cac> Subject: [OTlist] Standing cac> There's a legal term called standing. cac> "The legal right to bring a lawsuit. As a general rule, cac> only a cac> person with something at stake has standing to bring a lawsuit." cac> As I understand it, "standing" means that a person has a legal cac> basis for cac> brining a claim against another entity. I'm sure there's a lot more cac> to the cac> term, but that's my basic understanding. cac> While driving the other day, it dawned on me that in so many cac> settings and cac> with so many people OT has little to no standing. I'm not talking in a cac> legal cac> sense, instead in the sense of what our profession offers. cac> When I think about my home health company, OT is such a non-entity. We cac> have cac> so few OT compared to PT. OT can't open a case. OT very rarely stands cac> alone. cac> OT is rarely called upon as EXPERTS in anything, unless it's fine cac> motor. OT cac> is not recognized by the majority of patients. OT is often not cac> referred to cac> by the MD. cac> For me, the bottom line is that OT hardly even exists as a highly cac> valued cac> profession. In fact, I was thinking yesterday, what happens to the cac> VAST cac> majority of home health patients not getting home health? How is it cac> that I cac> "sell" my services as invaluable, but most patients don't get the cac> services? cac> The obvious answer is OT services are NOT invaluable and that cac> patients cac> apparently do just fine when receiving PT only. cac> Again, just another missing piece of our confusing puzzle.... cac> Ron cac> ~~~ cac> Ron Carson MHS, OT cac> www.OTnow.com cac> -- cac> Options? cac> www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com cac> Archive? cac> www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com cac> -- cac> Options? cac> www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com cac> Archive? cac> www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com
