Author: admin99

Occupational Therapy

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WHAT IS OT?

A holistic healthcare profession aimed at promoting health by enabling clients to perform meaningful and purposeful activities across a lifespan. OT’s take a thorough history, provide a physical and cognitive examination to identify deficits and develop a treatment plan. The goal is to maximize daily living and work skills of their clients with physical, mental or developmental conditions. Additionally, OT’s seek to adapt the environment, modify tasks, teach skills, and educate clients and their families to achieve their goals.

HOW DO OT’s TREAT? ADL training Adaptive equipment Therapeutic exercise Manual techniques (soft tissue massage, myofascial release, mobilization) Neuromuscular Reeducation Therapeutic activity Modalities (electrical stimulation, ultrasound, moist heat/ice) WHAT CONDITIONS DO OT’s TREAT? Hand Disorders

  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Fine motor/dexterity

Orthopedic

  • Joint replacements
    • total knee replacement
    • total hip replacement
    • total shoulder replacement
  • Arthritis
  • Rheumatoid
  • Osteoarthritis

Fractures

 

Ligamentous/Muscle injuries

 

Neurologic

  • CVA (stroke)
  • MS (multiple sclerosis)
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Neuropathy
  • SCI (spinal cord injury)
  • TBI (traumatic brain injury)
  • ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)

Cardiopulmonary

  • CHF (congestive heart failure)
  • MI (heart attack)
  • COPD (emphysema, chronic bronchitis)

General deconditioning
Amputee

  • BKA (below knee)
  • AKA (above knee)
  • Upper extremity

Speech Therapy

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What is ST or SLP?

Is a healthcare profession that specializes in communication and swallowing disorders, also known as Speech Language Pathology (SLP). SLP services begin with an initial screening for communication and swallowing disorders and continue with assessment and diagnosis, provide advice regarding managing, treating, counseling, and follow up services for these disorders.

HOW DO SLP’s TREAT? Speech Therapy

  • Exercises
  • Prompt Therapy
  • Cognitive training
  • Augmentative Alternative Communication devices

Swallow Therapy

  • Exercises

Deep Pharyngeal Neuromuscular Stimulation

WHAT AREAS ARE ADDRESSED BY SLP’s?

 

Cognitive aspects of communication

  • attention, memory, problem solving, executive functions

Speech

  • phonation, articulation, fluency, resonance, and voice including aeromechanical components of respiration

Language

  • phonology, morphology, syntax, and pragmatic/social aspects of communication including comprehension, and expression of oral, written, graphic and manual modalities

Swallowing Voice

  • hoarseness, low volume, and abnormal vocal quality

Sensory awareness related to communication and swallowing

 

WHAT CONDITIONS DO SLP’s TREAT?

Neurologic

  • CVA (stroke)
  • MS (multiple sclerosis)
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Neuropathy
  • SCI (spinal cord injury)
  • TBI (traumatic brain injury)
  • ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)

Developmental

  • CP (cerebral palsy)
  • MR (mental retardation)
  • ASD (autism spectrum disorder) or PDDs (pervasive developmental disorders)
    • Autism
    • Aspenger’s disorder
    • Pervasive development disorder (not otherwise specified)
    • Rett’s disorder
    • Childhood disintegrative disorder

Beat the Summer Heat

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Rising temperatures are arriving and everyone is looking for ways to stay cool. Beach days, water activities and barbecues with family and friends are some of the best parts of summer. Don’t let preventable things like heat exhaustion or sunburn cancel out all the fun. Here are ways to stay cool while you lay by the pool.

Stay hydrated! fluids, fluids and more fluid.

Wear loose comfortable clothes.

Remove excess clothing in extremely hot and humid weather.

Avoid outdoor activities during the hottest part of the day.

Avoid alcoholic beverages. It is not your friend when staying hydrated.

Expose yourself to high heat temperatures as briefly as you can.

If heat exhaustion does occur, make sure the person is in a cool room and excess clothing is removed. Laying down on their back with their feet elevated, compress a cold sponge or washcloth on their forehead. Drinking water and juices and staying relaxed will cause their temperature to go down. If these treatments do not cause improvement, seek medical aid immediately after an hour has gone by.

Elderly Advice for Staying Cool

Excessive heat is a tough battle for the elderly due to their weakened cardiovascular system. As you get older, the heart becomes less efficient, heart rate is decreased and less blood is pumped through the heart during each beat. Arteries lose their elasticity which is known as arteriosclerosis. Musculoskeletal flexibility also occurs as the body ages which diminishes the lungs ability to expand and take-in oxygen. These setbacks in elderly adults cause shortness of breath and poor endurance during times of extreme heat.

Sweat is no longer a way to cool off for the elderly because the subcutaneous tissue and the oil-producing glands decrease in size, therefore producing much less sweat in order to cool the body off. This also causes heat loss in the elderly when exposed to colder temperatures, as well.

Aging is unavoidable but along with more wisdom and appreciation for life, there are ways to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system as well. Living an active lifestyle in our younger years will make a huge difference in our ability to protect ourselves from the heat. Daily exercise will create cardiovascular fitness and expanded lung capacity, carrying over to our older bodies. Take care of yourself now and your older, wiser self will be very thankful you did.

Make staying cool a priority and the summer will be yours to enjoy. Drinks plenty of fluids, exercise, stay in the shade, wear sunscreen and make sure you get grandma a nice sun hat. We can can beat the heat together.

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