The New normal: Supporting post-pandemic independence within the home and community health setting

Since March 2020 the world has continued to evolve and change to meet the restrictions and demands of what is known as COVID-19. Twenty-one months later we continue to track outbreaks and attempt to prevent the spread through handwashing, masking, and social distancing, as well as develop treatments that are scientific and alternative. Both healthcare workers, including occupational therapists, and clients are experiencing difficulties in the areas of occupations of work, self-care, and leisure due to COVID-19 and the associated restrictions (Sithong, 2021). However, with states lifting restrictions, clients and practitioners are hoping to return to their pre-pandemic lives despite the occupational imbalances and hardships they have undergone.

Contemplating the Capstone

by Pamela Kasyan-Howe, OTD FOTA SIS Fieldwork

Virtual Reality in Occupational Therapy

By Jonathan E. Urrely, OT-S and Carlos Martoral

ASSESSING STUDENTS’ CLINICAL REASONING ON FIELDWORK

By Maria A. Colmer, OTD, OTR/L, Associate Professor, Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, Florida Gulf Coast University, OT Program, FLOTEC

Motivation: An important factor in adherence to home programs for patients with chronic conditions

By Kristin Domville, DrOT, OTR/L and  Kaye Rubio, Ph.D., MHS, OTR/L, CLT-LANA,

Joint effort with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder affairs in a home modification program.

Eligible providers will have 60 days to complete the application for funding. Providers must apply by February 14, 2022.

FOTA21 Conference: Student Poster Submissions

Here are some tips to follow when completing your student poster submission:

1. First and foremost, make sure you submit your poster under student and not professional. This will help to decrease any added stress closer to conference when you realize you may have been placed in the wrong group. The conference committee goes off what you submit and will place your poster in the group accordingly.

Occupational Therapy Practitioners as Leaders

An others-oriented perspective is at the core of most occupational therapy practitioners. Occupational therapy (OT) is a holistic profession built on the ideals of being client centered and helping others live a life they deserve and value, which I believe is the reason many of us fell in love with the profession. Occupational therapists bring a unique, client-focused, occupation based, and holistic perspective to the table. With this viewpoint, we are given a responsibility to employ it in leadership, as it is increasingly valuable to healthcare as a whole.

By: Gustavo Reinoso, Ph.D., OTR/L Dominique Kiefer-Blanche, OTD, OTR/L Erna I. Blanche, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA 

As our understanding of sensory integration and the processing construct evolves, so should our measures and assessments. Occupational therapists working with children who present deficits in sensory integration and processing use an array of measures in clinical practice, such as standardized testing, proxy questionnaires, family interviews, biographical accounts, and self-report measures. The information provided by these measures assist practitioners in composing a clinical profile, formulate hypotheses, and develop a plan of care relevant to these children’s lives and their families. The results from these measures are often combined with the use of clinical observations. The primary purpose of clinical observations is to allow the therapist to use clinical judgment to analyze a child’s performance in relationship to sensory processing as informed by evolving theory and research (Blanche & Reinoso, 2008).

INTEGRATING HEALTH LITERACY IN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

The Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA) is proud to continue its service to members and consumers of OT during the 2021 Florida Legislative Session.  Thus far we have spoken to at least eight different legislators directly involved in the examination and vetting of our proposed updates to the Occupational Therapy Scope of Practice (Scope). Your FOTA representatives have also met with other relevant stakeholders such as The Florida Board of OT and the Florida Department of Health to solicit feedback and support of these essential updates to our Scope.

Now it’s your turn!

Hello,

Just a reminder that there is now a requirement for a Human Trafficking CE

CHILDREN AND COVID-19

by: Kimberly McKinney MOT, MPT, tDPT, PHC
FOTA SIS Early Intervention/School Systems Chair H2 Health at Georgia-Pacific Palatka

The news about the coronavirus is everywhere, but what effect is it having on kids? According to a new study from China’s Shenzhen province (led by scientists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention) believes that although children do contract COVID-19 they do not get sick as quickly as adults. This is believed to be due to children having healthier lungs (from not smoking or fewer years of exposure to pollution) (Pappas, 2020).

MAKE YOUR COVID-19 COMMUNICATIONS TO STAFF MORE EFFECTIVE 

By: Michael Steinhauer OTR, MPH, FAOTA
FOTA SIS Administration & Management Chair (Modified from Matt Cornner, Managing Director, Talent Development Solutions, Advisory.com)

Social Disengagement and Isolation During a Global Pandemic: Occupational Therapy Strategies for You and Your Client 

by: Anjali K. Parti, OTD, OTR/L
Mental Health Special Interest Section FOTA

As you are all aware, the United States along with the global community is experiencing a period of social isolation, disengagement, social distancing, heightened public health precautions, and an overall sense of change in ‘normal’ due to a novel strain of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Several countries are experiencing new social realities and limitations in order to prevent retrieving or spreading the virus. All Americans are encouraged to self-quarantine and limit exposure to gatherings or environments of a quantity of 10 or less people and implement 6-foot distance between one another. In short, Americans are discouraged from leaving their homes if possible. This is a significant societal shift which can yield many challenges to routine, personal and professional growth, emotional regulation, wellness, mental health, coping strategies stemming from a general feeling of ‘cabin fever’.