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By J. Lorin G., OTR/ L Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is one of those diagnoses that I have frequently encountered in many environments as an occupational therapist, adult day health care, outpatient hand therapy, and now working at a SNF. What is CHF and what can we do about it in occupational therapy or other healthcare fields? Phyllis Ehrlich, OTR/L states that CHF is a “physiologic state in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the metabolic demands of the body at rest or during exercise” (1). It’s a complicated condition, called by different names, congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic heart failure (CHF) and heart failure (HF). CHF can be caused by many different factors including hypertension, ischemic heart disease, or cardiomyopathy (2). Obesity and aging are both big contributions to CHF, because of the difficulty of the heart muscle getting blood to all of the body’s tissues,

Lorin G. (OT) Working in a SNF, I recently encountered a man who had just hada Coronary-Artery Bypass Graft (CABG), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD), and one or two other co-morbidities. I was told I really needed to watch sternal precautions for this patient, but what could I do with him to help him with ADLs, basic light easy therapeutic exercises and functional transfers and mobility? I remembered very little from school about sternal precautions. I remembered something about avoiding bending, lifting and twisting (avoid those BLTs). What could I do for getting this gentleman out of bed, getting him moving and making sure he didn’t push himself too much?

A Little Conversation Walks a Long Way: Ryan G., PT I often find conversation to be one of my greatest, most

Which Joint Cocktail Should I Choose? As Physical Therapists we often find ourselves on the forefront of many new modalities

By Lorin G. Last month I wrote a blog about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It’s a disease which consists of a combination of chronic bronchitis, the inflammation of the larger airways, and chronic emphysema, swelling of the alveoli or air sacks of the lungs. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Two days after writing that essay, a 49 year old patient (we will call him Howard) at the Skilled Nursing Facility where I work died of COPD. In light of this, I think it is especially pertinent to revisit the subject of therapy and COPD to see what may have been done from our perspective to prevent or delay this event.