Driving and Community Mobility Reflection

     The guest speaker on driving and community mobility in our Older Adults course was very interesting and engaging. One thing that I took away from the lecture is that all occupational therapists, no matter what population they work with, should have at least some knowledge on driving and community mobility. I also learned that we must be sure to avoid giving clients false hope on being able to drive, as this can be a huge disappointment for them if they likely will not be able to, as well as a waste of their time and money.
     One occupational therapy intervention for driving and community mobility that can be done with a group is a "field trip" in which the group learns to navigate their community using public transportation. A group that may benefit from this is those in a group home for individuals with moderate intellectual disabilities. With one therapist or other professional per three or so clients, the group can practice the skills necessary to take public transportation, such as a bus system or the subway.
     An OT intervention for driving and community mobility that may be done with an individual client is simulated driving to improve the client's physical abilities related to driving. One area to address is the ability to turn their neck to either side in order to check their mirrors and to the side when changing lanes. Another area that should be addressed is active range of motion of the upper extremities. The client must be able to turn the steering wheel, move any levers for blinkers or windshield wipers, and reach the gear shift.
     No matter where an individual is in the lifespan, driving is a very important indicator of freedom. This is true for the teenager just learning to drive, as well as the aging adult whose cognition may be declining. Because of this, all OTs should have a basic understanding of interventions to address driving and community mobility.

Nutrition and Aging Reflection

     The guest speaker on Nutrition for our Older Adults class was very informative. I learned a lot about how important it is to make sure individuals in the hospital are getting enough calories for them to heal properly and that it is quite common for patients to be malnourished. We also learned that if we work at a hospital, we should get to know the registered dietitian on our floor so we are able to work with them to ensure our clients are getting the nutrition they need.
     One intervention that occupational therapists can do with an individual in regards to nutrition is to educate the client on how to check nutrition facts while grocery shopping. You could start by bringing in food boxes to the clinic or client's home to first go over what is on nutrition facts and how to make sense of it. After the client understands the nutrition facts, the OT and client could go to a grocery store and assess their ability to grocery shop independently while also checking the nutrition facts.
     A group intervention that could be done by an occupational therapist that relates to nutrition is a support group for individuals with type two diabetes and how to manage nutrition for these individuals. During the group the OT and group members can discuss proper nutrition for diabetics. The OT may also want to have a registered dietician present for the meeting, but allow the group members to have plenty of discussion amongst themselves.
     While it is not commonly thought of as an area that is within the scope of practice for occupational therapists, nutrition is within our scope of practice to an extent. Making sure you know a registered dietitian in your area can be helpful for both you and your clients. This will give you a resource to gain more knowledge as well as someone you can refer clients to for nutritional needs.

Glyph Reflection

Early in our OT school career, we were asked to make a "glyph" of ourselves based on our views of leadership, and we just recently made another of the same glyph to determine if our view of leadership has changed while being in school. Some examples of the meanings of the shapes were pointy eyebrows if you see yourself as a behind-the-scenes leader vs. curved eyebrows if you see yourself as an out-in-front leader and round ears if you think technology is often an important part of leadership vs. pointy ears if you do not. 

As you can see, both of my pictures are pretty similar. The two things that changed were the addition of glasses and an accessory to my more recent glyph. The meaning of the glasses is that I now think I have had more leadership positions than others my age, while I did not believe so at the beginning of OT school. Over the past year and a half I have taken on quite a few new leadership positions, both in school and outside of school. One in-school position I have taken on is a family liaison for Go Baby Go, a program where physical and occupational therapy students and engineering students modify toy electric cars for children who may not typically be able to use them. This position has helped me grow my communication skills tremendously, both between the parents of the children and other students and professors.

Having an accessory in the drawing shows that I see myself as a leader. I have definitely pushed myself to be more involved in OT school and I am so glad that I have! I know that these opportunities are helping me become a better person and future occupational therapist; I am so grateful for being in a program that gives students so many areas to be involved with the school and community.