christineawannabeot

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MUST READ!!! I cannot believe it!!!

Racial disparities exist, but what causes them can be complicated. Harvard anthropology student Jason Silverstein says it has to do with a lack of empathy. Host Michel Michel Martin talks with Silverstein about a Slate article he wrote titled, ‘I Don’t Feel Your Pain.’

I keep coming back to this topic because it explains so much about this country, its history, its people, and its institutions in regard to black people.

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APRIL is OT Month!!!!

Occupational Therapy Month

KFXK – April is National Occupational Therapy Month, and Bridgett Franklin, OTR, CHT, CLT, Occupational Therapist, Trinity Mother Frances, stopped by the Fox …271 Tags: 

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Closing Blog:Reflect on your experience in the community, on the module and something particular that you will take away with you from this block.

This block for me has been amazing. Yes I know I have whined and complained about how the work is a lot, the projects are hard and team work is draining me. ALL that is TRUE buuuuuuuuuuuuuut Community works for my personality, a mixture of everything (fun, crazy, hard, unrealistic, rewarding) and I love it because you never get bored! No day is the same! You get to treat individuals and make a difference among groups. I always knew I wanted to be an OT who helps run projects with NGOs but I thought this would come later in my career but after experiencing being a community OT I think i can deffinately say this is something I would love to do!

Other things i have learnt:

1) Reading!!! Books, articles, info from websites, news etc Read Read Read!!!! At first I hated it but now I understand the statement knowledge is power, I feel so smart knowing facts about everything which I now casually insert into conversation (showing off a little). I now even know where to find the good books in the library because I spent that much time there, lol so taking this skill into the next block might give me an upper hand as I will be able to read outside of the requirements and give better treatments *Lesson: expand your knowledge by reading

2) Group work is hard! I always knew I hated it but this block just confirmed it! why do I hate it? Because I hate that my fate is in someone else’s hands and sometimes that person does not do a good job and I want to lose my mind. I cannot tell you how many TUT ideas I came up with while the others just sat there. The one week when I said I was not bringing up anything it got to 12 pm (2 hours before the TUT) and we had nothing. The supervisor was saying how we are unprepared but I just wanted to be like it is my group that is not pulling their weight. And then my supervisor tell me that I should lead the group and make sure the handover goes well and all I am thinking is why me, AGAIN! Yes I am ranting but being a leader with a group that does not give you 100% or their 100% to me seems like a 50% is tiring especially when I have my own work to do. So yes I will not miss the group work aspect of community (good ridence)!

I know what you must be thinking.... In all work environments you have to work as a team so you have to learn how to cope in a team. Yes I agree but in a work environment my performance is not linked to a team, here in community we get marked as a team. If this was a job I would have probably taken on just 2 projects, led them and worked hard on them but this time I could not do that because when I did not initiate anything people just sat and did nothing. I genuinly think that is one of the factors why we did not make much of a difference in the community because it was only my ideas being implemented, no one was challenging them or adding to them much (other than the supervisors) *Lesson: you still don’t like team work

3) Community tested me as a person. I am generally a person who likes to speak their mind and be honest. I will be the first one to admit when I am out of my depths but this block I have met soooooooooooooo many people who I would term as “incompetent”! The worst part is that these people think they know it all. The Lord was testing me! I had to practice love and kindess and just bite my tongue when on the inside I was screaming. Yes I do not know everything but somethings are common sense and it is those small things that these people are struggling with, lol well at least it made me a better person. I have become a professional at smiling and nodding (it makes them stop talking quicker and keeps the relationship intact because it community relationships are very important, lol) *Lesson: smile, nod and say you understand then go do what you feel is right and evaluate why you disagree with their approach

4) Community opened my eyes on the role of OT. I never knew how important OTs are in health promotion. There is a gap between then leaders/ service providers and the community members and OTs are able to work with both side to improve health. To be an OT you need to be willing to take off your health professional hat and put on a community member’s hat and only then will treatment will be effective. If you have the heart of an OT this is second nature and that’s another reason why I love OT because we care about the individual as a whole...  *Lesson: OT is diverse, just remember the key principles in every setting

5) Lastly, this block was an eye openner in terms of different cultural practices and context. I saw treatment in a new light. The client was an individual amongst a household based in a community. It changed my wayof thinking! I feel like it added what was missing in 3rd year where I questioned how effective my treatments were but looking back now, lol I knew nothing. This knowledge I hope to apply to all the future clients. Context context context!! and don’t forget context! *Lesson: do not look at client in isolation

Community as a first block was fun! It gave me inspiration for the next three blocks (except paeds, I now know i definately do not want to be a paeds OT)!

[christineawannabeot]

Sore throat

So the past 6 weeks I have been fighting the flu and finally i seem to have lost but it is not the flu that has got me down but a sore throat. soooooo, i decided to google and post because i am sure OT students at one point have gone through this. Here are some funny things I read

The common cold often starts with the dreaded sore throat, the misery of which may drive us to try a variety of ‘old wives’ remedies, from rubbing the soles of your feet with garlic to ward off the bugs, to gargling apple cider vinegar to ease the pain. *lol this is fiction but it sounds very funny, lol garlic on your feet? lol i am more of a drinking ginger water kind of a girl

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/136591/Sore-throats-Fact-Fiction

Getting extra sleep can promote more rapid recovery, especially if a virus is the cause. Malaise (a general feeling of illness) is the body's cry for rest *My excuse to sleep by 8, lol

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/sore_throat/page3_em.htm#sore_throat_home_remedies

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cool picture from the community. Look at that blue sky

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Discuss OT role in health Promotion, primary health care and use of media.

Hey readers, the past couple of blogs have not been my best the topics have not been inspiring and I found myself just writing because I have to but this week’s topic lends itself to me rumbling on (oops I meant reflecting, lol). The last few blogs have lacked my usual humour and just overall joy so this week we are bringing the funny (and happy) back #notsexyback So this week I am not writing using a reflection model/framework so refer to my other posts for all that boring stuff (I mean theory)… Health promotion? What is that? Well I know it is definitely different from the promotion occupation I wrote about… hmm, or is it really? Keep reading to find out #creatingsuspence According to the WHO health promotion is ‘Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions’. #lightbulbmoment WOW!! Based on the above definition I have BEEN health promoting in the community and the clinic which is a primary health care facility!!!! So let the rumbling begin (yes of course I will include some fancy jargon to make it sound like I have good clinical reasoning #seewhatididthere). Based on literature I have read over the past couple of weeks, OT practice started in hospital environments and is still largly based in hospitals. Community based care is a recent and growing section of OT. I have been in the hospital environments (in 2nd and 3rd year) and the health promotion that we did included things like patient education on stump/wound care; diabetes group on healthy eating; patient education on their conditions and necessary precautions etc. most of this has been individual based and it focused on medical conditions. This was an important part of treatment especially with diabetic because the number of gangrene infected feet you see if concerning… This type of education and health promotion I have been able to transfer into my home visits with my client, I am able to read the reports she has and explain the concepts she doesn’t understand and I am able to tell her of ways she can improve her health (especially with her eating as she have diabetes and high blood pressure) #transferingmyknowledge Like the WHO definition states health promotion goes beyond the individual and this is true in the community. One of our projects is an advocacy and awareness project, we have been going around telling people about OT and encouraging them to come to the clinic of give us their details so that we can see them on home visits. The response was overwhelming, we got so many names that we could not even visit or screen all of them, moving out of the clinic and engaging with the people is where this happens. Another project we run is  screening at schools. At first I was not really interested in doing this as the children are so many and I will be honest I do not want to be a paeds OT (children are fun to play with not treat). But my view on this project changed the moment I was sitting across a child who was having severe problems. The thought that came to me is OMG if I had not come here then this poor child would not receive any help. Yes there are so many polotics and systems one has to follow but if my one assessment, short interventions and highlighting to the teacher that the child needs extra help can make a small difference to the child’s life then it is something (still don’t want to be a paeds OT). What makes such projects important is bringing awareness into schools about learning difficulties and showing teachers tips on how to help the children at such a young and tender age because lets face it, most of them will probably go through normal schooling because there aren’t enough special schools so if the teachers they work with can help make their schooling experience less hard then the child has a chance of completing their education. OT is so diverse. From hospital setting, clinics, schools, handing out pamphlets on OT to a women’s empowerment project… I mean what don’t OTs do. And that right there is why we as a profession need to place health promotion at the forefront of our intervention because we go out into various contexts, meet people from different walks of life with various conditions. Our holisitic knowledge on individuals will allow us to be able to recommend a balanced lifestyle (or should I say #balancedareasofoccupation, haha). The media just makes everything better/ easier. An instagram post in your OT uniform could cause someone to ask you about OT which could lead to a whole conversation about their health or the health of a family member. Blogs can help inform people who google stuff what to do (I found such good blogs for parent of children with cutting problems). Publication’s in newspapers could lead to someone seeking help from an OT after suffering for an extend period of time (that is why we are currently trying to get an article published)…. All this sound so a little unrealistic but people live on their phones and on social media (yes including you reading this) so the best way to reach masses of people is through various forms of media. #21stcentury I hope you enjoyed this blog and felt my passion…

http://www.who.int/topics/health_promotion/en/

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Little hint on this week’s coming blog...

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Wow this quote defines this week in the community... It is wednesday and i thimk we might be on plan L/M

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Utilise a political practice of OT viewpoint to discuss life in the community.

Like most professions Occupational therapy (OT) is constanty evolving. Treatment is moving out of the hospital and into the world where the clients spend most of their time.

Political practice looks at how practitioners may develop political awareness in order to aid community development. Political practice aims to maximize the potential impact of occupational therapists' engagements and ensuring the profession is working towards the contruction of a civic society (Elsevier, 2017).

Some of the questions asked by the book A Political Practice of Occupational Therapy are:

1) How is it possible to introduce the political into a profession that is linked to health and social care? 2) What form could political practice take, and how could the political components of practice be analyzed and evaluated?

This week in the community we finally got the opportunity to meet the counsillor (after about a week and a half of calling and going to his office several times). Personally it is the first time I have met a counsillor and I must say, he lived up to the stereotypes of a politician. He spoke confidently, he was charming, he managed to make himself appear like a people’s person who wants to help people but people expect so much of him and he has limited resources (at some point i even felt sorry for him). He offered to help us with formalizing our project but would not commit to a time or say exactly how he can help. After leaving his office is when i actually realized that this is what he does. He talks such a “big game” leaves you feeling impressed and heard but in the end he will probably not do anything about what you told him because you walked away without a commitment. Ten minutes later he had left his office. I would not say that he is not doing his job because i do not know much about his track record but after hunting him down then meeting him I would say i am curious as to his performance as if i was a community member looking to get housing (he said lots of families come to see him for housing) how many times do I need to come before finding him, how much does it trip to his office cost me, and if i cannot go to his office is he accissible of phone... Point of this whole story? As students now working in the community we are not aware of the challenges community members face in seeking help and we now know that funding for ideas/ projects/ small businesses is not easily accessible through this specific chanel. It seems like a better option to go through community based organisations.

https://evolve.elsevier.com/cs/product/9780443103919

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Parts of this book informed my this week’s blog!

Editors: Nick Pollard; Frank Kronenburg and Dikaious Sakellarios

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Community Occupations: Participate in and then analyse a community occupation which is different from what you are used to

Community Occupation: Promoter At some point we have all receive a flyer or a pamphlet for a store, event or information about a business. In my short time at the community I have gotten about 3 flyers which means that promoting is a popular occupation. The job of handing out flyers seems so easy and I am sure we have all thought, hmm I can do that. Well I did and let me just say, it is not as easy as it looks. Using Rolfe’s framework for reflective practice, I will be answering 3 questions in this blog 1) What? 2) So what? 3) Now what? 1) What? Last week we took part in a promoting walk around the community with other community members. We were handing out flyers, talking to people about OT and taking down numbers of potential clients as part of our advocacy project. This was a different kind of promoting than I am used to seeing. I see people at the traffic lights handing out flyers or people in malls at or around a stand. This type of promoting where you go up to random people seems to be popular in the community Quick analysis of a promoter’s occupation: Responsibilities: demonstrating product/service; distributing samples/flyers; inspire consumer to use product/service; set up promotional stand and using lectures/slide shows Job brief: pleasant; competitive; able to generate interest and able to attract and speak to people Requirements: work experience; ability to understand consumer’s need; good communication skills; and a high school qualification or BS in marketing https://resources.workable.com/promoter-job-description 2) So what? Well, after that experience I felt like I needed to have completed a whole other degree to be fully equipped to do this. We had the privilege of going with a big group from community centre wearing orange reflector vests and I learnt that saying there is safety in number is actually very true. Advocacy is an important part of OT especially in the community and therefore this could not be avoided. At first it was difficult approaching people, we were singling out individuals but as we continued to walk we were able to build our confidence up enough to approach small groups of up to 5 people. Yes there were people who were open to listening and enquired more but there were also people who told us that we should leave them alone. This was very intimidating. This experience was good as it gave us an opportunity to face any individual anxieties we each had and also it allowed us to fully understand the demands of being a promoter. The walking was quite something, the sun was so hot, maintaining a happy and enthusiastic voice can be hard especially when people are not receptive or when you are repeating the same statement for the 100th time; and you have to simplify your terms to make yourself easily understood. 3) Now what? After that intense experience all the other smaller advocacy meetings seem like nothing. I am able to apply what I learned during that time to other areas for example during screening explaining to people what OT is. I respect promoters so much more now. If I am to have the opportunity to treat one I will be able to design a vocational rehabilitation programme because I have a basic understanding of what the demands of the occupation are.

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Occupations in a community

What are they? there are too many to list and besides this video i found does it waaaaaaay better than i ever would have

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw6RBvUmayA

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Such a clear depiction of what community block feels like. I feel like an ant, lol

But this is part of an online presentation on what is community practice, follow the link

https://www.slideshare.net/stephendale/cop-conversations-to-collaboration-presentation/14-Degrees_of_Transparency_and_Trust

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OMG!!! how cool is this

The First Braille Smartwatch Allows Blind People to Feel Their Messages on the Screen

culturenlifestyle:

South Korean initiative Dot has created the world’s first Braille smartwatch.

Keep reading

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Open topic

The more I read about community practice and start to try apply it to my intervention the more I question it and I see a gap. Yes there is that community practice is still new and the most of the current literature is written mostly by outsiders and it can never fully suit a community but one thing literature (and lectures) don’t tell you is the cultural norms of a community. In my last blog I mentioned this a little but when asked to go deeper I started to try figure out why those were my thoughts. A little about myself: I am a 21 year old, black/African woman from Kenya. I have grown up in Kenya and South Africa but most of my interactions with lower income communities are in a Kenyan context. I do not speak isiZulu but I can understand the basics (if someone talks slowly). I have not always lived the best life, I know what it is like not to have #myshortstory Based on the above I understand some of the community situations eg: how upto 9 people can live in a 2 bedroomed house. So that I get and it is fine so I can plan my intervention to suit them. But, this is a major BUT! It is the small things that I don’t understand. Example 1: every house or office I walk into they always insist that I sit down. I kept wondering why are these people obsessed with me sitting down till I asked my friend who told me that as part of their culture, when talking to an older person one needs to be seated. OMG it made so much sense after…. Example 2: the house doesn’t have a sink in the kitchen but it has electricity. I totally did not understand this concept till I spoke to someone who told me those house do not have running water. This was a shock to me, how do you have a TV, microwave and fridge and not have water which is a basic need #waterislife. I have heard of houses with water but no electricity but the other way round just caught me off guard. But for them it is a norm. Those are just 2 examples and it has got me thinking. How much does my lack of understanding of their culture coupled with my inability to speak their language affect how well I am able to implement treatment and plan projects? As an outsider, how well can I really engage with the community? Any uncooperative attitudes I may be experiencing, is it because I am unknowingly offending them? Right now I cannot answer this question as I have just began my prac but I promise to answer it at the end of the prac #pinkypromise

So at this point I am basically unsure of how influencial a stranger who doesn’t understand community norms can be in community practice but I am also not sure how effective a community member would be in implementing intervention. Why? Well because my sister who is a psychologist was telling me about a lady who tried to commit suicide and long story short is she didn’t seek the appropriate treatment because of not wanting to be judged at the local clinic. This is one among many stories why people don’t seek treatment, because of the stigma, judgement by health professional (who you may know personally) and fear of news getting out to the public about what you went to the clinic to do. See where I am going with this….

So if a stranger with no cultural heritage is not ideal and a community member with all the information about the specific community is not ideal, who is? Maybe a stranger who understands cultural norms? Do I have the answers? No! Especially not this early in my community practice. So what next? Research, both literature and talking to people because I am genuinely curious…. And I hope you are too, if you have any opinions feel free to comment

#foodforthought #dontbreakyourbrain

#goodfirstattempt #Gibbscycle

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Activity analysis

Fun Fact: according to google tooth brushing and making a cup of tea are the most searched activity analysis in relation to OT

Funny right? Why is it funny? because we all know that at one point in our OT student carreer we have used making a cup of tea as a treatemtn or assessment. I am guilty of this *insert whatsapp monkey with eyes covered*

Links to help:

activty analysis of tea making (who knew there were so many steps)

https://actionanalysis.wikispaces.com/Task+Analysis+Tea+Making

activity analysis of tooth brushing (this link has pictures for those who like visual stimulation while reading)

http://motbrushingteeth.tumblr.com/

and lastly a link for a template for activity analysis (a bit long but got all the detail from: space required; supplies needed; client factors; performance skills; areas of occupation; grading and therapeutic value)

http://www.allthingsot.com/activity-analysis

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My readers know that i like to write from the heart (maybe a little mind). I take the topic and just splash my personality on it and let me just say it is a brightly coloured canvas. Recently i received some feedback that i need to deepen my blogs.

This is gibb’s reflective cycle, This coming blogi will use this model to write and see how it goes....

For more info on Gibb’s cycle click on link

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/reflective-cycle.htm