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Reflecting on the community block

In a community block many things that change ones life are bound to happen, whether you notice them instantly of it takes one to reflect on them to realise the learning these experiences come with, they are still bound to leave you with something into your bucket of knowledge. The community block comprises of completely everything that we learn throughout the years as occupational therapy students we provide assessments and intervention for all skills that we are taught, this includes paediatric, physical, and psychosocial cases.  If I were to simply explain what this block is about in simple words, it is all about integrating all the knowledge that we have learned into a test and ensures to provide experience of the theory we are taught, it prepares us for the working world. There is no way of anticipating what cases you will come across every day, but it all takes one to be prepared and be able to work hard throughout the blocks. In this blog I will reflect on my personal and professional learning and experiences.

https://www.google.com/search?q=reflection&rlz=1C1CHBF_enZA990ZA991&sxsrf=ALiCzsZn-okHegKhMgKb_NjMi3ou42K3Uw:1654896916201&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg2tG266P4AhUTmo4IHYE0ACoQ_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1366&bih=663&dpr=1#imgrc=j23puPWuYNDyqM 

While planning for this blog about reflection on the community block, I contemplated on my experiences I became warry about my mental health and had to go back to the definition of what being healthy means. According to (WHO, 1948) health is the state of being completely well physically, emotionally, and socially and not merely the absence of disease of infirmity. This means that for a person to be regarded healthy his physical, mental, and social components should not be affected. I further came to a realisation that my mental health in the past few weeks has been unhealthy since I have been affected by many experiences leading to now. Early in April people leaving in the east coast region were affected by heavy rains leading to floods that have destroyed many peoples home and infrastructure with the city of Durban. This was the beginning of stress and anxiety for me, as I started to worry about the safety of my family back at home in Cato manor, that is when everything went south for me. This made me loose focus in my schoolwork and personal life and had to try and ensure that they were safe, since I knew myself I believed I would recover and be able to manage with everything. As this block began I was already feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work I had to do but was able to gradually get back to my normal self. As the end of the first in the block I was seeing myself becoming more productive as usual, little did I know that all would go down the drain when I was getting the hang of things in the block, we had an incident where our transport was hijacked at the site office in KwaMashu, even though I was not at the scene when that took place, after reports of it happening I became worried and felt unsafe in the environment that I was in. This resulted in my mind not being at ease thoughout the day, thinking that it would all pass, little did I know that I would instead become more anxious and feel unsafe within the block. Following that we had to completely move to a new site and start establishing new projects there, adding more stress and feelings of overwhelm. The Gandhi settlement also did no justice as it also seemed a bit unsafe as well and some of the residents there warning us to be always precautious however it is fair to mention that the environment was better than KwaMashu as the areas we had to work in were near each other. These minor experiences would not have any impact on me, that was me telling myself.

I felt I was still also affected by these ‘minor’ experiences, upon introspection I realised that I continued to become more anxious and stressed as the academic load increased. I had to find more ways of regulating myself and use coping skills that other people use to cope with these feelings as these feelings were also new t me. I had to adapt quickly and use the skills that would allow me to function optimally both in my personal and academic life, and be able to take care of my mental health. In a study conducted by (Agata Debowska, 2020) they found that the prevalence of depression and anxiety among students during th pandemic had a significant increase. Young adult student between the ages of 18 and 24 years experienced more of these symptoms than adult students (25 and above). This made me realise that since the majority of students in our class are younger than 25, this meant that most of them are experiencing these symptoms as much as I am and that this will surely have significant impact on our academic performance. Even though student support services are available for students, however we are not able to use them as we are overwhelmed with academic workload.

However, I am glad that I did this block in first semester, as it is a very eye-opening block. I have been able to experience how working in the healthcare sector would comprise as it trains as most for the work industry and prepares me for my upcoming blocks. In this block I realised how much of learning I still have to do throughout the year to be able to integrate my theoretical knowledge into practice in fieldwork and in community service in the next few 6 six months. I have seen improvement my experience of fieldwork and it has given me the necessary skills required to become a competent student all it takes now is putting all my knowledge and skill into practice. I have learned a lot about setting realistic goals and holistic intervention to clients gathering this knowledge from my peers, supervisor, and lectures. Even though I could not put these skills into practice during this block I believe that opportunities to do this are still available looking forward in the upcoming two blocks.

Through this block I have grown a lot professionally and have learned the importance of many skills in the discipline of occupational therapy, such as ensuring that the intervention I provide to my clients is centred around their specific needs and providing holistic intervention. We have come across having to work with practitioners of other fields, this showed me the importance of working in multidisciplinary teams to ensure that the needs of clients are met, and we are also able to achieve our goals when treating clients. However, I realised the importance of being articulate and communicating effectively with my clients and other practitioners. Working various people meant that I was to come across various cultures and this required one to be culturally competent as well, be able to avoid cultural barriers of diversity. According to (Celik, et al., 2008), being able to overcome barriers of diversity in healthcare allows the practitioner to be able to have a sense of urgency in attending diverse people, develops good practice and good political climate. This made me realise the importance of being able to implement culturally diverse skills and interactions with clients within the healthcare sector.

I believe that the block is most essential in our curriculum as it focuses on equipping us with skills, knowledge and experience which is necessary for us when working as occupational therapists. Only if this fieldwork block was introduced early stage in our curriculum, we would have enough skills at fourth year level and leading us to graduating more competent in our practice as healthcare workers since it reinforces the knowledge we have been taught in the previous years and other modules, adding this fieldwork block at a third-year level would be more beneficial for us as students.

In conclusion, I believe that I have done my utmost best in my practice during the block, considering all the overwhelming feelings that I have had to up with. I have learnt a lot of regulations skills during the block. In having to integrate theory into practice this block challenged me the most than my previous block. However, there is a lot of learning and use of skills learned in the following two blocks that I still must do, and I see more room for improvements and learning in my practice as a student therapist.

References  

Agata Debowska,  B. H. (2020, September 30). A repeated cross-sectional survey assessing  university students’ stress, depression, anxiety, and suicidality in the  early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland. Retrieved from  Cambridge.com: doi:10.1017/S003329172000392X

Celik, H.,  A.Abma, T., A., G., Widdershoven, Wijmen, F. C., & Klinge, I. (2008,  April 1). Implementation of diversity in healthcare practices: Barriers  and opportunities. Retrieved from Sciencedirect:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2007.11.021

Cross. (1989). Definitions  of Cultural Competence. Retrieved from Curricula Enhancement of Module  Series: https://nccc.georgetown.edu/curricula/culturalcompetence.html

WHO. (1948, April  7). WHO remains firmly committed to the principles set out in the preamble  to the Constitution. Retrieved from World Health Organization:  https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution

Hannah Verburg, Caren Schranz, Breanna Foley, Kristin  Kozy, Vince Casali, Divya Sood; Influence of Culture on the Occupational  Therapy Process in the Early Intervention System. Am J  Occup Ther July 2015, Vol. 69(Supplement_1), 6911510137p1. doi: https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2015.69S1-PO4085

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Working towards a fairer and sustainable world for all

The image above shows the sustainable development goals set by the UN.

The United Nations outlined a 35-page text of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, where it states that “this agenda is a plan of action for the people, planet and prosperity” (United, 2015). In this agenda the world leaders aimed to outline the plan that will be taken into action to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals. However, we can all ague that whether these goals will see the light of day. Many critics ague that these goals are overdone and the possibility of achieving all of them is close to impossible (Trollbäck, 2015), nonetheless I believe that we can all work together to achieve these goals as a nation, it all takes trivial amounts of work per day to effectuate change towards these goals. What can we do to contribute towards to a fairer and sustainable world? In this blog I will unpack what we can do and what we do in communities as student therapist to ensure achievement of these goals with the bare minimum that we put into the environment and people we interact with.

During the community block and throughout the year, we use our skills and knowledge to narrow the path towards achievement of the sustainable development goals. Through our minimum contribution towards this we focus on goals that can lead to having a prosperous nation, we contribute towards promoting quality education and lifelong learning, reducing poverty in all its forms and work against gender inequality, we ensure and promote good health and well-being of all people in our societies (Stephen Morton, 2017). we contribute towards achieving these goals also by forming partnerships that will strengthen and promote achievement of these goals. As student therapist working in Bhambayi community we focus on providing assessments and intervention to boys and girls in schools, those in early childhood development schools. Through this we aim to on promoting learning in their environment regardless of their shortcomings in their mental, physical and environment. We work with teachers and carers to discuss and implement ways in which will allow the pupils to be afforded quality education leading towards relevant and effective learning outcomes. Through our active participation in their learning, we promote learning, thus putting our bits and pieces in the bucket of change towards quality education and lifelong learning for all children.

Through promoting quality education and learning we continue to work towards reducing poverty in communities through ensuring that we have educated youths who will be at greater chances of getting successful employment and will be able to create employment opportunities in our country this will then improve our economy while working against poverty. We can also work with men and women to further combat the effect of poverty by equipping them with skills and knowledge that will create well-informed members of the community with adequate skills for survival against societal problems/issues. Promoting gender equality is another great and impactful way of reducing poverty because through this we fight against patriarchal ideas and norms which are entrenched in communities, by prioritizing women and girls in the community and we provide intervention strategies to combat inequality. Thus, killing two birds with one stone.

Gender inequality affects anyone and everyone in economic and societal groups, however women and girls are affected the most by this. Within the Bhambayi settlement most women and girls are victims of gender-based violence which stems from the problematic effects of gender inequality. It is estimated that about 25 – 40% of women in south Africa are victims of gender-based violence, and these violent acts are also evident in the Bhambayi community (Dartnall & Channon., n.d.). To tackle the issue of gender inequality we focus on empowering women and girls by including them in workshops and programs that will improve their well-being and their awareness to the impact of inequality based on gender, through their awareness they can challenge the societal norms that place them inferior to their counterpart gender. Within the community we provide support groups for those that are affected by the injustices towards women and girls and more specifically we focus on creating awareness and support for victims of GBV. Our actions of empowering women and girls contributes towards working against patriarchy and gender inequality.

We form partnerships with organizations and local authorities to set a path for creating such partnerships with international states so we can work together as nations to strive for the achievement of the sustainable development goals which are set to improve our nations and the world at large. In community fieldwork we do this by forming partnerships with local hardware’s and organizations to work together in bringing resources and services to community members. Through this we aim to promote good health and well-being and to ensure that we uplift the community of Bhambayi. By establishing good partnership with organizations and communities we can channel our resources and service towards bettering the community, while strengthening, supporting and improve it while working towards achievement of the goals set by the United Nations (Little, n.d.).

Through promoting and taking part in striving for quality education, gender equality, eliminating poverty and promotion of good health and well-being, and forming partnerships with communities and organizations. We further promote prosperity and preservation through the trivial amount of work we do to achieve these goals. Through actively taking part as a nation in achieving these goals can better set a stronger and prosperous foundations for following generations.

References  

Dartnall, E.,  & Channon., A. (n.d.). Gender-based violence in South Africa. Retrieved  from Saferspaces:  https://www.saferspaces.org.za/understand/entry/gender-based-violence-in-south-africa#References

Little, P.  (n.d.). School-Community Learning Partnerships: Essential to Expanded  Learning Success. Retrieved from The expanded learning and afterschool  project:  https://www.expandinglearning.org/expandingminds/article/school-community-learning-partnerships-essential-expanded-learning-success

Stephen Morton,  D. P. (2017, October 17). Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their  implementation: A national global framework for health, development and  equity needs a systems approach at every level. Retrieved from British  Medical Bulletin: https://academic.oup.com/bmb/article/124/1/81/4563457

Trollbäck, J.  (2015, september 16). 10 facts about the Sustainable Development Goals.  Retrieved from World Economic forum:  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/09/10-things-to-know-about-the-sustainable-development-goals/#:~:text=Here%20are%2010%20key%20facts,%241.25%20a%20day%2C%20has%20halved.

United, N. (2015,  August 12). Draft outcome document of the United Nations summit for the  adoption of the post 2015 development agenda. Retrieved from General  assembly:  https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/69/L.85&Lang=E

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Factors influencing my Positionality as a student therapist

It is an undeniable fact that we are shaped by our societies from the moment we see the light of the sun at birth, we are taught what is right from wrong within a societal manner. Our societies influence our beliefs, our values and our ethical code which is in line with what are taught as we grow. Positionality is better understood as ones social and political context that creates their identity in terms of race, class, gender, and sexuality (Dictionary, 2018). Through the influence of society there are fixed norms/ways of positioning us as we grow. I was taught what is moral and immoral in terms of the society I grew up in and this made me think that what we are taught is how life is, which subsequently influenced my personality up to the current stage in my life where I see how my society influenced the person I am today. However, being a student practitioner has also played a huge role in influencing my identity, in the community module we are expected to uphold ethical behaviour and understand our responsibilities in the communities we offer our services at.

The picture shown above shows some of the factors that influence our positionality (dictionary, 2018).

Through our experience we are positioned in certain way, growing up without a father figure played a significant role in the person that I am today because now I have this urge of being a father that will portray love and affection for the kids I will have, despite having that missing link in my life, I have to learn and observe how other peoples father behave and think weather I would want my children to be treated that way, and of cause judging from my knowledge of what is right and wrong.  In our society we are taught that a father is the head of the family, this is how the society has influenced all families to be headed by male figures. We are told that being a male figure within the family means that you must provide, be a leader of the family, ensure the safety and wellbeing of that family, and women are expected to be obedient to the male figure in the family. This continues to perpetuate gender inequality and influences our identities as males and female. Being a student therapist is no different because in our discipline females are dominant over males, this in turn puts every male within the course to feel the pressure of having to be an ‘A’ student through that we are cornered to changing and adapting our personalities to prove ourselves that we belong to the course that we are doing. As much as this pressure should be seen in a positive manner, but we cannot deny that for most of us it is difficult to function under pressure, the societal pressure within the university community further forces us to engage in activities which are against our beliefs and traits. But I can say that through the societal pressure in our discipline I have become the person I never thought I would be, it has influenced my dedication and passion as male student therapist within the occupational therapy department.

Growing up post-apartheid was no different in positioning us to societal norms of apartheid as I pond upon the educational system it is still evident that this had the significant impact by discriminating us according to race, the curriculum of black school/public schools was not the same and still is, and being in a tertiary institution I have become more aware of how we were deprived of good education which is as a result of apartheid and colonialism. Due to apartheid, I grew up knowing that private schools and hospitals were for whit people and public institutions of education being for black people thus I never felt equal to white people, thus I was constructed to understand that this is the country we live in and nothing can be done to change that, this has played a significant role in shaping my identity as a black student. And I agree with (Ocampo, 2004) that the educational system of our country is still being affected by apartheid as educational inequality still exists. However, as an occupational therapy student I have experienced quite less severe impact of apartheid in terms of the educational system at universities, this then allowed me to further explore and engage with scholastic materials even more now that I was given the chance to grasp all the knowledge I can with some equality being shown any race, regardless of what the colour of your skin is we are given the same opportunities to take in all the knowledge we can to better equip ourselves, this was a platform that attempted to change the position I am placed at by political and societal factors.

I have come to understand that it very important to understand my positionality in order to be able to know which aspects of my identity that I could change in order to be able to acknowledge my privileges, power I as a student therapist when working in communities. Positionality also forces us to be aware of our biases and thus as student therapist in occupational therapy we are taught to provide treatment to people in the communities holistically, and not allow our beliefs or biasness to influence how we provide intervention. By this we provide intervention to everyone who requires our services regardless of their race, sexuality, religious affiliation, gender, but we ensure to implement the holistic approach during the provision of intervention to clients. Through understanding our positionality, we can reflect on how we provide intervention to people in various fields of life as practitioners and student therapists. My positionality has mainly been influenced by my social background, culture, and the race that I fall within; however I continue to provide intervention to people of different race, gender, social group and myself and colleagues we ensure that we provide intervention equally and holistically to every individual in our treatment room. Through the provision of occupational therapy service, we have implemented projects at the Ghandi settlement which focus on maternal and child health, conducting health promotion talks to advocate for occupational therapy services to be used by residents of the community. We have also implemented projects that focus on schools and creches to improve the access to adequate health within the community.

As student therapists it is important for us to understand that our positionality, should not have an impact towards the community we bring our services to them, and ensure that we consider how this will impact the people at the other end in a community level. The position in which our society places us at should not be projected to the individuals we provide intervention, and shy away from being a society that shapes the identities of the lives we touch in a negative manner.

References  

(2018, August  23). Retrieved from Dictionary:  https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-sexuality/positionality/

Ocampo, M. L.  (2004, September 19). A Brief History of Educational Inequality from  Apartheid to the Present. Retrieved from Global Perspectives on Human  Language: The South African Context:  https://web.stanford.edu/~jbaugh/saw/Lizet_Education_Inequity.html#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20Apartheid%20funding%20resulted,affected%20the%20quality%20of%20teachers.

Pollock, M.  (2021, March 24). What is positionality? Retrieved from ENGINEER  INCLUSION: https://engineerinclusion.com/what-is-positionality/

Tien, J. (2020,  January 31). Teaching identity vs. positionality: Dilemmas in social  justice education. Retrieved from Taylor and Francis Online:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03626784.2019.1696150?journalCode=rcui20

What’s  Positionality & What Does It Have to Do With You? (2021). Retrieved 27  May 2022, from https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-sexuality/positionality/  

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THE IMPORTANCE OF MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH IN SOCIETY

The public health goal for every society is to improve the well being of mothers, infants and children within the society, an important goal for every society. The well-being of every mother, infant, and child can be predicted the well-being of our future generation can be predicted with the current well-being of mothers, infants, and children in our society, this will therefore enhance the overall health of families, communities, and societies (health, 2022). However, there are several factors that impact the health of the mother and child within societies.

“We have the opportunity to end preventable deaths among all women, children and adolescents and to greatly improve their health and well-being” (APHA, 2019), this statement stood out to me as it supports that through the deployment of good quality and access to health service to women, children and adolescents can allow  improvement of their health and well-being within a society. However, little to no access to good quality healthcare, provision of essential goods and service, access, and availability of clean and healthy water and sanitation are also barriers to good health and well-being of mothers and children. There are other factors that increase the risk of ill-health of mothers and children, such as Hypertension and heart disease, diabetes, depression, Intimate partner violence, Genetic conditions, sexually transmitted diseases (stds), Tobacco, alcohol, and substance use, inadequate nutrition, Unhealthy weight contribute to women and children being at risk for having poor health. This does not however, affect only the families, mothers, and children but the greater society. Poor health of mothers and children in the society impacts the society negatively, this is by leading to further poverty, it will influence homelessness to individuals who lose their breadwinners at home, and subsequently affect the economy of that society.

 From the time I spent in the community of KwaMashu I noticed that there are many individuals who are victims/suffer from poverty and ill-health being at its peak, unemployment being a factor contributing to poor well-being of individuals as they partake in occupations that are harmful for their and which contribute to the negative impact of maternal and child health. This further brings the services of Occupational therapy being greatly needed to combat poor health of the mothers, children, and adolescents within the community. This requires occupational therapist within this setting to critically analyse the effects of poor well-being of mothers and children in the community and how this impacts their occupational participation.

What can occupational therapist do at a community level to improve the well-being of mothers and children - well for every society OT’s will thrive to ensure that all mothers and children have access to adequate health in terms the fulfillment of and participation in their meaningful occupations. Ensuring that mothers an children take active participation in fulfilling their roles this will improve every mothers well-being and health, not to forget that health is not merely the absence of disease or affinity but complete physical, mental and social well-being (WHO, 1948).

The well-being of mothers and children is an important factor within every community, thus ensuring the health and well-being of mother and children in the community will further allow for good foundation for the future generation of the society. Good health and well-being is important in the society as it contributes to the prosperity and wealth of the society, having a productive society and evidence of saving the lives of mothers and children (world, 2019). Allowing mothers, children, and adolescents to fulfill their duties and responsibilities in their families and within the society.

 Bibliography     

APHA. (2019, March 22). Maternal an child health.  Retrieved from American public health association:  https://www.apha.org/Events-and-Meetings/Webinars/Maternal-and-Child-Health

health, O. o. (2022, February 02). Mother,  infant, and child health. Retrieved from Healtypeople:  https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/maternal-infant-and-child-health

WHO. (1948, April 7). WHO constitution.  Retrieved from World Health Organization:  https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution

world, T. S. (2019, December 27). Importance of  Good Health in Our Life - How can We Achieve Good Health and Well Being?  Retrieved from The Scientific World:  https://www.scientificworldinfo.com/2019/12/importance-of-good-health-in-our-life.html#:~:text=Good%20health%20is%20central%20to,save%20more%20and%20live%20longer.

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Advice to my future self as a person and as an OT

We always think that passing on advice should be from an elder to a younger person however, this coin can be flipped and to advice my future self gives me the chance to critically inspect myself currently and what the future may require of me to become the person I want to be as a professional and as a person. Dear self-know that what you’re putting your mind to and what you’re doing will feed into your future. Firstly, should learn to honor yourself and treat your body well.

This year has been the longest year in my life as a student and in all truth and honesty, I have learned a lot about myself and life in general. With that being said nothing can ever be important more than myself in a bigger world like this, putting myself before anything would the biggest and most amazing thing, I have done for myself. To my future self, be kinder to myself, know your worth bro and stand your ground. Take opportunities as they come and don’t make any excuses. This would help you to become the greatest person you have never thought you’d be, importantly don’t forget to learn from my mistakes each day. Ensure that you know my strengths and weaknesses this will teach you about myself and let others know you by speaking about my weaknesses this will ultimately grow you in terms of self-awareness, one can work on their weaknesses daily. Always take care of my mental health, have a balanced routine, and balance my occupations that will result in productivity. It is also important that you able to create new and positive habits this will make you to be content with the decisions you and good habit subsequently lead to greater productivity. Be sure to critically think over the decisions you take as the results of those decision will have an impact on myself either positive or negative, but always strive for positive results.

The career that I’m in teaches you to be optimistic, passionate, and being creative, these skills will you to achieve my career goals. Advice for my self as an OT is that you should always have continual learning and keep update to date with the current happens in terms of research and career upgrading programs these will grow and improve my competency in the field. It is important to network with co-workers or colleagues in the field of OT this gives you more opportunities that are available to upgrade myself and gain more experience. Professional development is also important as well this can be done by attending webinars, talking to other professional, volunteering and taking part-time work opportunities. Getting a mentor is not everyone’s choice or option but it would be amazing to get a mentor that will guide you in the career and help you to improve yourself.

Lastly, it is important to always take time to look back to see how far you have come and track your progress, this will allow you to be make improvements in areas that need it thus ultimately making you the best person you can be in your career and personally. Being organised is also an important skill to a person in their career and personal life, it brings stability, balance, and good overall health. Rewarding yourself is as essential as knowing your strengths and weaknesses, this improves self-motivation, and ability to keep going. And last but not least ensure to take mental breaks to promote mental health and wellbeing.

Davis, B. (2021, May 28). Knowledge Bank: Quick Advice for everyone. Retrieved from Myorganization: https://www.mvorganizing.org/what-advice-would-you-give-your-younger-self-essay/

parris, J. (2021, November 05). 7 steps to prepare for your future. Retrieved from Flexjobs: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/steps-to-prepare-for-your-future-career/

Wilks, A. (2021, November 5). 5 great pieces of advice your future self will thank you for. Retrieved from Purposefairy: https://www.purposefairy.com/82057/5-great-pieces-of-advice-your-future-self-will-thank-you-for/

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Occupational Barriers to Mental Health

Engagement in occupations brings about meaning and purpose to life. Occupations being the various activities that people engage in daily. Participations in these activities promotes occupational performance and overall health and wellbeing. Occupational therapy is therefore based under the basis of aiming to achieve good health and wellbeing by allowing/promoting engagement in these occupations to achieve this. By the way health is not merely the absence of disease or disability but the state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing (Adam Felman, 2020), therefore occupational therapist aims to allow client’s to be in this state.

There are many factors that have an impact on the attainment of good health and wellbeing. These factors include but not limited to environmental, genetic, behaviour, medical care, physical influencers, and social factors. For healthcare practitioner to treat individuals to accomplish a good state of health they must investigate all these factors and their impact to the client’s health (staff, 2019). Looking at the factors that impact on mental health include self-esteem, confidence, difficult behaviours, physical ill health, abuse, and other factors. These factors therefore become barriers to client’s achieving good mental health. Some of these factors therefore become barriers to achieving a state of wellbeing. During onsite fieldwork in a thought-provoking discussion with our supervisor, I learnt that the environment and physical factors also play a big role in affecting mental health thus these environmental and physical factors become occupational barriers to mental health, for example looking at institutionalisation which in this case was the biggest barrier of mental health by that these institutions are ran in a fixed routine or format to a point that they become occupational barriers.

Now let’s unpack how this good deed of putting individuals in institutions or in a shelter somehow becomes an occupational barrier to mental health. Since these facilities are ran on a rigid routine this therefore creates apathy, affects the clients mood, affects their volition to participate in occupations, in long term care clients sense of possibility is also affected negatively, and this impacts the clients engagement in occupation, another reason for imbalanced occupational performance is that the individuals in facilities do not partake in meaningful occupations such as Activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and other occupations, the institution therefore becomes and an occupational barrier to mental health as the clients that stay in them become derelict in terms of mental health as their volition, purpose, and meaning to life is affected negatively thus their occupational performance is therefore decreased.

Physical health also plays an important role in mental health as it cannot be separated from mental health. For a person who has a physical deformity there are aspects of mental health which are affected negatively this is self-esteem, confidence, social participation, and other aspects an impact in these aspects leads to decreased occupational performance and engagement as these individuals are more likely to experience depression which also plays a big role in becoming an occupational barrier. From what I observed in facilities that provide care for clients is that they do not engage in most occupations, this is known as occupational deprivation which results in having lack of meaning or purpose to these individuals and leads to poor health, despair, and social isolation, this therefore brings on the role of occupational therapist to promote engagement in occupations thus promoting occupational performance and coregulation between individuals in the facility and their caregivers. In my belief I can say that to some point culture can be an occupational barrier to mental health since mentally ill people adhere to cultural rules about mental health therefore inhibiting them In accessing and using mental health services to treat these mental health conditions as the individual my believe that a certain mental illness is caused by ancestral anger. The stigma behind mental illness in different cultures constitutes to occupational barriers in mental health. Poor insight into an individual’s mental health is also another factor that constitute to occupational barriers in mental health.  

However, to minimize these occupational barriers is possible if the carer or individual would focus on the factors that cause barriers in mental health such as rectifying or improving physical deformities that subsequently affect mental health. Minimizing this impact of these factors will therefore enhance good mental health and promote occupational performance, thus Improving the client’s mood, self-esteem and confidence as they engage in meaningful occupations.

References  

Abson, D. (2019, April 24). occupational  Deprivation. Retrieved from The occupational therapy Hub:  https://www.theothub.com/post/occupational-deprivation

Adam Felman, s. s. (2020, April 19). What is good  health. Retrieved from Medical News today:  https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150999

staff, C. f. (2019, December 19). frequently  asked questions. Retrieved from Center for disease control and  prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/faq.html

Hines-Martin, Vicki & Malone, Mary & Kim,  Sanggil & Brown-Piper, Ada. (2003). Barriers to Mental Health Care Access  in an African American Population. Issues in mental health nursing. 24.  237-56. 10.1080/01612840305281.

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COVID - Trick or treat - unpacking the good, bad, and the ugly of a pandemic

This pandemic has not been good to anyone, it has turned things in an unexpected way. It has impacted everyone and everything, changed the world from everything that we knew. One of the most important department’s is not spared from this hypocritic pandemic, healthcare workers have seen the most of it than anyone, but still they persevere. It has also resulted in good discoveries and inventions within the health sector.

This pandemic meant that people all over the world were to stay indoors to manage the spread of Covid-19. And this was a major change to life as we know it. The pandemic had a huge impact on us health science students, as we were obliged to change from having in-person fieldwork, we had to resort to online Simu cases, which limited our clinical experience. resorting to online learning brought fear to me as i was uncertain of how this would go about even working on online cases, this came about with regards to the environment I was in which was not conducive to learning and the worst of it all was the people in my community who did not abide to covid-19 lockdown rules. Putting theory into practice at this stage was one of the challenging. This has resulted in mental issues on students and the population at large, this includes depression amongst students, anxiety, stress and traumatic experience and other mental conditions (nerves, 2020). 

on that note the pandemic did not only cause uncertainties on student life only, but caused more substantial damage to on human lives, by the impact caused in the country’s economy and health access to the poor population of every country. according to (chijioke Nwosu, 2020) it was found that poor populations bore a disproportionately higher burden on poor health. furthermore the pandemic reinforced the inequalities that already exist in South Africa amongst racial groups in terms of economy and jobs.

However, this has brought on the evolution of healthcare provision, a system of providing intervention to every individual is now being invented and used, thus access to healthcare and treatment was not severely impacted. A new system of providing treatment that has been established, is called the telehealth system. Yes everyone would enquire what exactly is this telehealth system, well it allows healthcare practitioners and individuals to provide and access healthcare in the comfort of their homes, using online platforms such as Google meet, zoom meeting, skype, facetime and etc. This does not only promote healthcare access and provision but it also reinforces the Batho Pele principles and the South African constitution of human rights with regards to easy access to medical treatment and intervention. Another good side of this pandemic is the broadening of provision of treatment to individuals. This was a great initiative as it allowed access to healthcare to people in destress and who unable to travel to hospitals for therapy and treatment. Us being introduced to the telehealth system is very interesting as an aspiring healthcare practitioner it would allow myself and  my colleagues to use this platform in provision of treatment and therapy upon qualification. 

The pandemic has taught me many things going forward, the fact that anything is possible even in challenging situations. However, working with people amongst these challenging conditions allowed us to grow both academically and gain more experience with telehealth, which will allow us to adapt to the fourth industrial revolution. Treating clients during these times was challenging but upon introduction of telehealth system became easier and less challenging.

References  

chijioke Nwosu,  A. o. (2020, August 23). the conversation. Retrieved from Covid-19:  how lockdown has affected the of the poor in south africa:  https://theconversation.com/covid-19-how-the-lockdown-has-affected-the-health-of-the-poor-in-south-africa-144374

nerves, F. (2020,  october 30). South africa Department of health. Retrieved from the  impact of covid-19 on mental health:  https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2020/10/30/frayed-nerves-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-mental-health/?gclid=CjwKCAjw4qCKBhAVEiwAkTYsPGn865olTDNvfp8gJHPz0-b9mKuIsi_0_GYCd7po77DFyzVd41ws9xoCxdQQAvD_BwE

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Standing on the edge of becoming an OT

Just about two years ago, it was all a mystery as I started this profession with very little intellectual insight into what the profession is all about.  I continued walking throughout the bush with everyone in our class having the littlest of ideas on what does occupational therapy entail. With time passing this was no longer a journey it became more of a quest on finding out what am I in, and as time passed by it became clearer and clearer. At the back of my head, I knew starting this profession was one of the best decisions that I have ever made.

As we advanced to second year, treatment was included in our curriculum and it was more like putting all the pieces together, we were like qualified practitioners though this was by the way we were hosted by other healthcare professionals at the hospitals we conducted fieldwork. I have come to learn that working with people requires one to have patience, empathy, and good interpersonal skills to be a good healthcare practitioner, even though those are not the only personality traits one should have, but these are of the essence. In a nutshell occupational therapy is about providing intervention to cognitively and physically impaired individuals to live meaningful lives using everyday activities while providing treatment. Knowing what occupational therapy is about, increased my confidence and self-esteem during fieldwork, I am now able to provide intervention to individuals within a few assessments this will also improve my competence in this profession. Being an aspiring therapist is an amazing field of work, the ability to have a positive impact on people’s health and wellness. However, being an occupational therapist also allows multidisciplinary teams to work together in providing the best possible intervention and outcome to the client’s health. Working in multidisciplinary teams also allows us students to learn more at first-hand about patient care, provision of treatment and the ability to work as teams from different discipline the achieve the same desired outcome.

“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means, keep moving forward.” These are the words of Martin Luther King Jr, these words make me think about the journey of becoming an occupational therapist which is filled with moments of tears, hardship, headaches, stressful nights, and moments of joy when patients that we have been treating come to us and showing their gratitude towards the intervention we provide for them, this does not only warm one’s heart, but it also motivates us to continue doing the best that we can to improve other peoples live through what we do. I believe we begin this profession with the littlest clue as to what it entails and the challenges, we face within the course strengthen us to want to finish this degree because of the impact that we make every day, and the emotional and intellectual growth that we go through to become occupational therapists.

However, through everything the beauty of being an occupational therapist remain and it shines more then anything else. Occupational therapists give meaning to peoples lives, we can specialize in a hand full of different fields, offer extensive therapy and rehabilitation to individuals. Occupational therapists impact peoples lives’ in an amazing and unique way during interaction with their clients thus promoting the image of occupational therapy in the society, this profession is becoming more well-known and respected as time goes. The journey has not ended but it continues and along the way it inspires many to join the walk.

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Cultural Humility

We live in aa multicultural nation, where there are people with different cultures cohabitating the same environment, this brings about the importance of cultural humility within individuals. But one may wonder what cultural humility is exactly? According to (Karin Gonzalez, 2021), cultural humility “is a humble and respectful attitude toward individuals of other cultures that pushes one to challenge their own cultural biases, realize they cannot possibly know everything about other cultures, and approach learning about other cultures as a lifelong goal and process”

South Africa is a very diverse nation with different multiracial groups, our cultural differences cross each other however, it is important to implement cultural humility with other individuals to maintain or build good interpersonal relations. Seeing that south Africa is filled with different multiracial groups it is more likely that individuals providing services to the community are limiting cultural competency within their process of providing services.

Health practitioners consist of a large group of people that contribute to the imitations of cultural competency. I as practitioner as well ensured that throughout intervention planning and implementation process, I do not pose any biasness towards my cultural choices versus the client’s cultural choices and practices. This allowed me a s a therapist to learn about the clients personal and cultural choices. The client I was providing intervention to from a Xhosa culture, however the clients family do not practice the cultural practices, this therefore allowed the therapist to increase the client’s insight into his culture.  There was a good rapport between the therapist and client, the therapist ensured that the I respected the client’s privacy and space. Because the therapist was respectful towards the client’s cultural choices and practices this motivated the client to give back the same respect to the therapist culture, thus promoting good interpersonal relationship. It brings the importance of regarding one’s cultural choices and practices into consideration during social interaction and providing the service to the client, considering this will therefore allow for cultural competency within the relationship between the client and therapist.

Good cultural competency will therefore allow the quality of intervention that the therapist is providing to be of the highest quality and be relevant to the client, relevancy of intervention is produced by incorporating the client’s occupational choices and then the intervention itself should be client centered and address the limitations or needs of the client for it to be of the best quality and relevance. Considering other cultures that I as a therapist may come across, I think about the Indian culture which is very different to the African cultures that we share within south Africa, during intervention planning and implementation it would be important that I consider the current cultural practices that I am providing. Ensuring cultural humility, it is important that we understand cultural humility is a life long process that promotes learning of other people culture and their practices thus this is a life-long commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique when interacting with individuals form different cultures.

Resilience is another important factor when it comes to understanding your culture as an individual, the fact that the person should continue adhering to the needs of their culture and withstand the cultural practices that he might not agree with or go against. (Amanda Waters, 2013)

With the fact that our nation is a diverse, multiracial, and multi-ethnic country further enforces the reason for us as South Africans to ensure that we take people cultural practice, choices and belongings into consideration when providing intervention, thus ensuring that as a therapist you do not portray yourself as being culturally biased. Provide intervention that is client centered to ensure relevance of the therapy provided.

References

Amanda Waters, L.  A. (2013, August). Reflections on cultural humility. Retrieved from  American psychology association:  https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2013/08/cultural-humility

Karin Gonzalez,  J. L. (2021). Definition of cultural humility. Retrieved from  Study.com: https://study.com/academy/lesson/cultural-humility-definition-example.html

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Evidence Based Practice

Literature and research are the basis of practice within every field of practice, let it be health, construction, politics, etc. thus intervention and treatment in health industry is widely based on research and practice conducted by many researchers and scientist within the health department, this gives birth to a term evidence-based practice. In clinical practice this term refers to applying or interpreting research findings in our everyday client care practices and clinical decision-making process (Austria, 2021).

In occupational therapy the same manner of practice is followed, and according to (AOTA, 2021) evidence- based practice is based on integrating critically appraised research results with the practitioner’s clinical expertise, and the client’s preferences, beliefs, and values. This research allows practitioners to conduct and plan intervention in accordance with the best literature available to support and yield health in individuals on the receiving end of treatment. However, consideration of patient values and preferences, experience of the healthcare provider, patient assessment and laboratory findings and data obtained from other sources will allow the practitioner to provide the best intervention to patients.

Every treatment session that I have planned and implemented was based on information that will promote good decision-making and achieving outcomes that will be beneficial to the clients. But the use of theory that we have been equipped with has been beneficial in understanding diagnosis and approaches that we can use to implement therapy sessions, however this did not always yield positive outcomes or achieve the goals which I had for the intervention I had planned. I would have therapy sessions with the client for several times achieve short term goals but could not see any progress of the client in terms of intermediate goals, this may have been due to short time spent with the client. The participation that I have taken through this fieldwork block I have attained practical experience with treatment and providing healthcare services to patients, a shortcoming to this is the inability to find patients who are at my level of expertise to treat as I was placed in acute hospital setting, its either there is more psychiatric case, or the cases are more than that I could comprehend and be able to treat. However, the best thing was I was not wondering in the bushes I had all the support I wanted from the supervisor, my colleagues and other practitioners who were very welcoming and understanding of the fact that I am still a student.

Treating a spinal cord injury was the most challenging as this was the first time, I had to implement treatment, and nothing was more of help than consulting literature that was addressing spinal cord injuries understanding the impact, prognosis, and aetiology of the diagnosis/injury gave me a clearer path as to how and which therapy form, I would choose to treat/rehabilitate it. Having all the information I had found about spinal cord injuries was not getting me an easy way out I had to interpret and implement therapy sessions with the client in accordance to the literature that was available and this was not an easy task but was a success to some point as I continued with treatment my confidence when it comes to treating clients gradually increased however for every different case came another wreck of nervousness and being unsure of the treatment that I was providing if it would be beneficial to the client, but the fact that all the treatment I provided was client-centered became a boost to my confidence and of course the use of the factors that impact the relevance of therapy towards clients, that is consideration of these factors as I implemented treatment.

Another challenge that comes after gathering data was putting all the theory that I have gathered into practice; all this is still new to me as student practitioner, but I am gaining experience everyday by observing other OT staff implementing treatment, consulting supervisor with challenges that I come across this give me a better understanding on approaches that I can use to implement intervention to clients. As my supervisor always says that we must always conduct research on the diagnosis of the patients as this will help in planning intervention, now I have seen it first-hand that knowing all the information with regards to the diagnosis allows us as therapist to implement therapy that is promoting independence in all occupations of the clients with minimal assistance. The feedback that I always get from the supervisor pushes me to think more on my therapy session about ways that will improve the treatment I provide to clients.

In conclusion I have learned practically that intervention that is based on research and literature has a positive impact on the practitioner’s decision-making as it allows them to critically evaluate the treatment that they provide. Without literature that supports and provides the therapist with clinical reasoning into the therapy they provide, therefore the intervention provided may be meaningless and not yield positive results on the client’s prognosis. This fieldwork block has taught me to be very much evidence based and data driven in making decisions.

References  

AOTA. (2021). Evidence  based practice. Retrieved from American occupational Therapy Association:  https://www.aota.org/Practice/Researchers.aspx#:~:text=Evidence%2Dbased%20practice%20(EBP),preferences%2C%20beliefs%2C%20and%20values.

Austria, B. W.-J.  (2021, February 26). What is Evidence-Based Practice? Retrieved from  Health university of Utah:  https://accelerate.uofuhealth.utah.edu/explore/what-is-evidence-based-practice

Unknown. (2021). Evidence  based practice. Retrieved from Qoute Master:  https://www.quotemaster.org/evidence+based+medicine

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Collaborative practice -Multidisciplinary Team and Teamwork

 According to (staff, 2020) a multidisciplinary team “are the mechanism for organizing and coordinating health and care services to meet the needs of individuals with complex care needs” these teams work together by bringing different skills and expertise that allow them to work on a common goal which is to provide healthcare to individuals. Now the ball was in my court this was the time for me to start working with other disciplines, mind you I have only been working with only my colleagues.

Planning and implementing intervention is a new thing to us 3rd year students, now I had to involve other disciplines in a way into my intervention with my client. To put this into action I had to work with other disciplines such as Doctors, nurses, and therapists but this was a very challenging part because to speak with them I had to know everything concerning the client but that also was not the problem, the problem is talking about my client on another practitioner either I was referring them, or I was asking for their assessment or treatment sessions that they have done. Working with other disciplines is an important part of being a health worker since we strive in making other peoples lives better especially being occupational therapist.  The intervention that I had planned with my client was executed and it went well, however I had to refer my client to a resident OT at that hospital since my client required OT therapy, this was not only it I had to refer my client to other practitioners that during my assessments with him I noticed he might need help from them.  Collaborating with other practitioners during intervention is most helpful as this allowed me as therapist understand things that other health practitioners do, their job titles and field of work.  

However, this was a stressful week to me and my colleagues because we had many submissions that we had to complete, but that did not mean we should leave/forget about our clients, we still had to plan treatment to achieve our therapeutic aims with the client.  So I had planned an activity with my client to promote his client factors which was an important thing to me as well as my client hence the therapeutic activity was client-centered. To further ensure that my client received all the intervention that was due to him, by that this meant I refer and liaise with other professionals. I spoke to the nurses at the ward to advice my client to always participate in occupations that he was able to, thus promoting his client factors, this was not only it I further had to refer my client to other departments of which he would have benefited on by seeing them. Another important part was to put all the theory I had learned with regards to the client’s diagnosis into practice of which this was also another challenging part, but I left no rock unturned in ensuring that I acted up to my capabilities.

Being a therapist is an amazing field of work this is because of being able to improve peoples lives after a traumatic experience which affect them physically as well as mentally, then by that we are changing their lives for the better. Nevertheless, implementing the therapeutic activity that I planned for my client with the supervisor being there to observe the session brought nervousness and anxiety to me as therapist but what I kept in my mind were the words of my supervisor who said on our first day of clinical practical’s which were  that if we don’t trust what we are doing, how can our clients trust us with their health, with all the nervousness I held my head up high and completed the treatment session with my client. After all that nervousness the supervisor’s comment on what did not go well was the structuring of the activity, another thing was that she motivated me to critically evaluate the activity that I plan with the client as well as the client’s capabilities or functions. This really motivated me to continue with the client to improve his physical disability.

In conclusion the most important aspect of being a health care practitioner is be able to work in a team this will therefore make the practitioners intervention be meaningful and allow the therapist to achieve their therapeutic aims. As the saying goes that “teamwork makes the dream work” therefore the aims of the therapist will be achieved, and this is a critical part of intervention. 

Referrences 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bENp2Imh0Rw&t=1s

staff, I. c. (2020, june). What are MDTs and why are they important to integration? Retrieved from Intergrated care research and intergration: https://www.scie.org.uk/integrated-care/research-practice/activities/multidisciplinary-teams#:~:text=Multidisciplinary%20teams%20(MDTs)%20are%20the,plan%20and%20manage%20care%20jointly.

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Client Centered Therapy?

“Client centered treatment is important when planning intervention” this was the first time I heard the word from one of our lectures, mind you I started wondering what does this “client centered” treatment mean? According to Carl Rogers “Client centered therapy is a therapy style centered around the client. Therapists who use this technique try to create an environment of Unconditional Positive Regard.” This still left a more space than it occupied, as I did not have a vague understanding of what this really meant, little did I know that implementing what I have learned was the meal of the day when it came to planning and executing therapy to clients. 

Taking theory into practice becomes a challenge to everyone because unexpected behavior and circumstances arise during that period, this is what happened to me this week during clinicals. It was beginning of the week on a Monday I was feeling positive about what I had planned for my client, to me this was my start in planning and implementing therapy to a client I had no experience at all on how this will turn out. I planned an ADL (Activities of Daily Living) activity (toothbrushing) for Mr. Dlamini (pseudonym), which was important to him as he mentioned that this is what he was struggling with, mind you the client had partially adequate muscle strength and joint range of motion to complete this activity but some limiting factors were contractures at the fingers on both hands and other factors ,even so I felt really positive with conducting and  since it was something the client wanted to learn doing using an assistive device of course. Little did I know that I will get into the clients ward only to find that my client was on is way home since he was discharged. But that did not stop me in ensuring that Mr. Dlamini got the help he deserved, I went to him told him how to do the activity and spoke to his parents/cares on when to help him and when not to and told them to motivate him to do things that he can do. To some point for me this was what client centered therapy meant.

However, the day was no where near the end, I had to spend the whole morning finding clients to treat which were not going to be discharged anytime sooner and whom where up to my level of knowledge. When we finally found the client, I had no idea on what treatment plan I would plan for this guy Mr. X, but talking with other colleagues and taking advices from my supervisor saved me from the Shark’s mouth. The next day I came with a planned activity but crucial factors that were affecting the activity were not taken into consideration this was a result of an activity not thoroughly planned. And the session did not go as planned but what was a positive note on that was that the aim of the session that I planned was achieved even though unexpected events took place on the day, at the end of the session the client was left feeling positive even though when it started, he was full of excuses, this was because he might have not understood the aim of the session. End of the day all I was thinking about was how challenging being an occupational therapist was, but the supervisors feedback really gave me hope and clarity on how to plan and execute treatment sessions with clients, in an indirect way the supervisor was telling me to plan client centered intervention and to gradually grade my activities in a way that was meaningful and was going to breed positive results, did everything not fall into place after I had taken my supervisors advice?

“Planning a client centered treatment is not longer a problem now” this Is what I thought to myself I was reflecting on what this means to me. To continually plan intervention of this nature meant that I had to further understand the theory behind this approach when planning treatment. And according to research to plan a client centered treatment session meant that; the session should be providing a warm and conducive environment, creating a judge free zone to allow the client to actively participate, letting the client lead the sessions, asking open ended questions that allowed the client to express themselves and the session to be self-discovery sessions to the client and most importantly the sessions should be meaningful to the client and still achieve the focus of the sessions. The components of this approach are that the therapist should be genuinely interested in the client’s problems and what they need as well as what is important to them, the therapist should also show support and acceptance of the client’s openness, this will promote unconditional positive regard to the client, another part being that the therapist should have an empathetic understanding of the client’s feelings and emotions, this will help yield client centered treatment to individuals.

In trying to fully understand the meaning of the client centered intervention means I as a therapist should always thrive to plan intervention that will promote this approach. This week of clinicals was a week full of challenging and depressing times but justice would not be done if I were to say I did not learn anything, a lot of learning and understand was met this week more than it was the first week. Therefore, with all that being said will I not be a good and successful therapist? A feeling of incomparable joy and happiness is what I feel as I reflect on the difference I am making in people’s lives!

 References

Theodore. (2020, May). Client Centered Therapy (Benefits + Explanation). Retrieved from https://practicalpie.com/client-centered-therapy/.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SubKSjk-oj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmRzjc0okYs

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From Theory into Practice

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice” these are the words of Anton Chekhov, now this was my chance to explore all the theory I have been introduced to and learned. On Wednesday the 7th of April we went to Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital, the client that I was assigned to, so I can put all this theory into practice with was a 20-year-old male diagnosed with a stab wound left upper heart (sucking wound). For me this was a turnover of events as I was not anticipating any diagnosis of this nature, this made it really challenging for me to choose and prioritise my assessments with the client. However, this brought on nervousness and some anxiety and I ended up panicking, but at the back of my head I told myself that this was my chance to make a difference in someone’s life.  

As I was building a good rapport with my client, I was doing my assessments which were Joint range of motion, muscle strength most importantly of the affected side which was the left upper limb, postural assessment, and I also did the Oswestry disability questionnaire for pain. Thinking about the clinical reasoning with regards to these assessment, I did the joint range of motion assessment because the main factor that was limiting the clients ROM was pain, observed that the during the interview with him he kept this hand at rest always in the same position and when he had to pick up his ICD (intercoastal drain) container he would do this very slowly with his arm in a ‘safe’ position to avoid inflicting pain on himself this therefore limited him to do full active range of motion movements with his left upper limb mostly on the shoulder joint. Starting with this assessment was a good choice as this allowed me to observe other client factors that were also assessment after joint range of motion, other conducted assessments have been mentioned above.  With completing the assessments, I took the longest time as I was nervous and was facing a rather ‘new’ diagnosis that I had never thought of how to go about with treating it nor even conducting assessments on. Taking too much time with assessments had a negative impact on my performance with the client and structuring my time accordingly, so I had to try and complete these assessments with my client with that in mind I found out that my client might be discharged anytime so I was in a rush with everything I was doing with the client.

Having to work in a rush required me to think on my toes and make clinically reasonable decisions, this of which I am still getting used to led to me to conducting a Barthel index assessment on the client of which I can say was not of importance with regards to client’s diagnosis when I thought about it. And the client scored a high score on this assessment. This fieldwork day was a success for me though as it taught me that in a clinical setting, I can face any diagnosis that will require me to be sharp, quick and implement effective intervention to the client at that time. However, this was the most challenging part about the block itself and this had me thinking how long it will take me to fully grasp this skill? when I’m barely coping with being able to grasp/have the best skill to plan and complete all necessary assessments with the client as quick as possible. Already I was struggling with completing the assessment never mind the fact that I still had to think about the intervention that will be relevant to the client. End of the day we were sitting around a table with my colleagues we were discussing our clients, their diagnosis and helping each other with treatment activities that we can do with them, there I was with not even an idea of which activity that I would do with my client. I felt so demotivated and really struggling on my first day because I was not entirely sure of everything I was doing with my client. However, I went home with some idea of what I can do with my client, but it was not fully planned, this was an idea I thought about when I was listening to my colleagues share their challenges, and the advice I got form my supervisor.

The next day came I work feeling positive with the treatment session I had planned for my client as I got time to think about it and the skills that the activity required to complete it, which was an upper limb dressing activity and donning of a nose mask that is tied at the back of the head. Before I had to do the activity with the client, I had to assess my 2nd client whom we took some time to find, and he was a 25-year-old male who was diagnosed with C4/5 flexor destruction injury (Quadriplegia), this was an almost familiar diagnosis as the client was a quadriplegia with limited movement of the upper limbs. I was able to plan and prioritise my assessments with this client It was easier compared to the first client, at this point I felt like I knew what I was doing even though it took me time to complete these assessments, I had to rush to do the activity I had planned for my first client as this was also a short day. The activity went very well with the client as I was able to see movements that the client was not executing before and the client said he did feel any pain when completing this activity, as this was the client’s feedback on the activity, I could have further upgraded the activity further than the upgrades mentioned in the write up. By allowing the client to wear a closed t-shirt this would have challenged the client to further open his range of motion more than he was with a buttoned shirt. For me this activity was a success since it was therapeutic to the client as he was using an increased range of motion than he does when he is not participating in an activity.

Then after the activity I received feedback from my supervisor which was very helpful by that it made me realize all the aspects that I couldn’t focus on with the client which were important. The past two half days at fieldwork site were quite helpful in building up knowledge about what an occupational therapist is, which I am still learning at this point. This for me was an amazing first-time experience with treating. Yes, of course there are many things that I need to work on myself.

References 

https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/cartoon-physical-therapy.html

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/anton_chekhov_119058