Blog

Lorin G., OT I work now with JTP in a Skilled Nursing Facility, which is centered on senior care. One of our patients is a 57 year old lady, we’ll call her “Mari”, who used to be a special education teacher and who has had her life radically altered by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis about 5 years ago. It was a difficult diagnosis for her doctors to make; first it was called Parkinson’s disease and only later was it understood as MS. So, what can we, as therapists, do for an individual with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis? As there is no hard and fast cure for the condition, there is nothing we can ultimately do to completely alter an individual’s life that has been diagnosed with this condition. As therapists, we can help an individual take better control of the MS through ADL training, relaxation techniques, functional transfer training, therapeutic exercise energy conservation and psychosocial remediation.

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?

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.

My Use of Humor, Occupational Therapy and Being Human – Lorin G. (OT) For me, humor has become a valuable asset