Hoisting, wheelchairs and a more relaxed week.

Practical sessions.

I have now completed my hoisting and wheelchair practical sessions which have given me a basic understanding which will be very helpful for when I go out on placement. I am aware however, there is still a huge array of hoists and wheelchairs for me to discover along my OT adventures! It was good to actually handle the equipment and take time to familiarise myself with how it works as I was quite apprehensive to begin with - some equipment can appear quite scary.

I think for me, what I have taken most from these sessions is actually experiencing it myself! My peers and I actually had a go of being hoisted and being pushed around in a wheelchair and this really opens your eyes!

As I was being put into the hoist sling I was aware of my personal space being totally invaded. As I was hoisted up I felt my independence disappear and my anxiety kick in! It is a strange feeling being hoisted - and actually quite uncomfortable. Acting out role play in small groups revealed the importance of the therapeutic use of self and offering re-assurance.

I was pushed by one of my peers in a wheelchair within the university canteen. I went to order a piece of cake and a coffee at the now extremely tall bar! I felt so low down and could not see my choice of cake to choose. It was more difficult to communicate and to carry out the activity. Luckily the staff are so helpful and this mock situation was made a lot easier by help from peers and staff!

...But imagine if I had been on my own. The environment suddenly becomes such an obstacle in many different ways than you realise... Tight spaces, heavy doors and high surfaces - I quickly became aware that this scenario was really not just a 'piece of cake' after all.

A short video highlighting some of the environmental struggles of being a wheelchair user

Image available at: http://imgur.com/gallery/yzj4O

"How you see yourself is always more important than how others see you"

Research and re-capping.

During classes this week we handed in our research proposal questions and our requests for dissertation supervisors! Fingers crossed I should know who I have been allocated by next week. I finally decided I am going to focus on art as an occupation from an autistic adults perspective. This is of course a very rough idea and I will discuss this in further detail in future posts. In my Applied OT module we synthesised the knowledge we have learned and discussed over the past 5 weeks and presented this information to the class as learning sets. We were briefed regarding our return to this module after placement as we have a half hour assessed presentation in June. This presentation will be based on a case study I complete during PP2 and applying the relevant underpinning theory to practice (Eeekk!).

A little time to relax.

This week I have found myself with a little spare time to spend some time with friends. Beginning an intense course like this is a big decision, and meeting great people and making friends along the way is a huge bonus. 

"A piece of cake"

Preparing

This week as well as my research project I have also started to prepare for my next placement with a community stroke team. I have been liaising with my practice placement educator and discussing areas I can read and prepare some knowledge on before arriving on placement. These areas will be focused on:

• General understanding of stroke
• Different types of stroke
• Available treatments
• Symptoms
• Neuroplasiticty
• Effects on ADL's
• Supporting someone with stroke from an OT perspective
• Cognitive & emotional changes
• Communication difficulties (expressive and receptive dysphasia)

I have completed an e-learning course on stroke awareness which has given me a really good insight and a basic understanding of stroke and how complex it can be!

My first ever certificates for my CPD!

If you are a follower of my blog - you will know that from my post regarding my observational placement with a community neuro team I am very interested in stroke and it's many complexities. I feel it is good to have this small piece of experience to build upon as I did see a lot of patients with stroke during that one week and an array of different treatment strategies and assessment tools used.

I find it fascinating how complex the human brain really is - and depending on the area of the brain affected determines how the person may be affected by a stroke. 

Image available at: http://www.familyhealthonline.ca/fho/familymedicine/FM_stroke_FHc13.asp

People can be affected in many ways including:

• Cognition & memory problems
• Vision problems
• Emotional affects/depression
• Personality differences
• Loss of mobility
• Speech problems
• Swallowing problems

As an OT student and focusing on a person as an occupational being - this can have very detrimental affects on a person's participation within their daily occupations. Some examples might be:

• Work
• Driving
• Change of relationship dynamics or family roles
• Social isolation
• Independence 

I feel that OT practice in supporting individuals after stroke is a very important role and can have very positive affects and results in stroke recovery. I am looking forward into researching into the condition further and broadening my awareness of anatomy knowledge during my placement. 

Art as an occupation?

Research 

As I discussed in my previous post I am currently thinking up some research ideas to create a research proposal and continue this on through into my second year to write a research article. My ideas have been flowing this week and I have been conveying these through visual mind maps and reading various articles! I have considered my own personal passions and interests and have realised it may be important to focus on my strengths and interests throughout this research adventure as this will be a very motivating factor.

So far my interests and thoughts are based on:

• Creative arts
• Art as an occupation
• Art and creative activities as an intervention in physical OT settings
• History of craft in OT
• Long term conditions
• Autism
• Is creativity a factor as to why people choose to study OT

This then got me thinking about art as an occupation. I began reflecting - what does art mean to me?

I have always been passionate about art from as early as I can remember. My first achievement I can recall was receiving a head teachers award for a drawing I did of a daffodil in year 2 of my brand new  primary school. It made me feel accepted, and I loved the feeling of achievement this gave me as opposed to the feelings of fear and failure regarding my maths lessons! (I never did get any better at maths). 

From this, art was a leisurely activity for me as a child however, it became a vocational achievement for me throughout my school years. I subsequently did my GCSE in art (frequently told off by my teacher for my expressive mark making techniques - telling me it was wrong to blend and smudge colours together). I carried on regardless - I mean, how can any art be wrong? That was my argument...Ask the great Picasso or Willem De Kooning their opinions... I'm sure they would agree. I went on to gain a distinction in a BTEC national diploma in art and a BA (hons) in Fine Art.

Furthermore - the meaning of my discussion is this. Art and being creative for me is a very personal experience. It is or can be an expression of my feelings, how I view the world around me or a representation of how I have experienced a situation. It is an achievement for me and something I feel a confidence and a passion about.

A discussion this week with some of my peers around writing this blog highlighted that I actually don't mind writing this blog and having different people viewing it and learning about me as a person and sharing their experiences. However, I would feel anxious over someone viewing a piece of my art work - purely because it is a very personal thing to me, an achievement and a passion - and criticism may take this away from me.

So how do I use art as an occupation?

• Leisure
• Therapeutic use for myself
• Inspiration
• To learn
• To Achieve
• To support others

Within this blog you may have seen I used art within my case study for Joan Rivers as a means to express, understand and explore her life and occupations. This is a good example of how I use art to learn when I'm feeling inspired.

Therapeutic use for myself - As I have been reflecting I have realised that on many occasions I have used art as an occupation to support me to overcome a difficult situation or to deal with grief. Here is an example I would like to share with you:

This piece of art was part of a series I created to support me through the death of my Grandad. My grandad was a huge part of my life and when he passed away during my studies - It had a hard affect on me, to the point I almost quit my degree. I created this work based on the empty house and objects he had left behind, which had so much meaning when he was living there - however then seemed so empty and lost. I wanted to represent the feeling of loss and the feeling of memories and life that people can give to objects and places. 

Producing this art work really did support me and had a positive effect on my well-being. Distracting me from a difficult situation however, guiding me through the grieving process which I so needed to go through. Most importantly it helped me to focus on the positives and so many happy times I shared with my grandad.

Moreover, this is agreed within various articles I have been researching. Particularly in life threatening or long term conditions that art and creative activities can support people to feel less stressed, increased self esteem, transforming an illness experience, gaining a sense of of self, expression and building social support ( Perruza & Kinsella 2010, Reynolds & Prior 2006, Schmid 2003, Reynolds 2003).

This reflects my personal experience of art and creativity throughout my life.

Further to this I found these articles online:

It was the wish of a terminally ill lady to visit the exhibition of the works of Rembrandt.

This lady had her wish granted to visit an art exhibition she so longed to see. I feel this is amazing, as art had a huge impact upon her life and to visit an art gallery was a very important occupation for her to fulfil.

Art created by individuals with MS - 'What MS means to me"

This is a fantastic representation of how individuals with long term conditions can use art and creative techniques as a means to express their feelings and cope with the many varied challenges of MS.

Another example I can share with you is the artwork I created during the traumatic experience of my cat getting ran over and the horrific injuries she sustained:

Painting studies.

Textile and mixed media study.

On creating these pieces of art it not only helped me through a difficult time - it gained me the confidence to have my own pet portraits website, where I began taking orders and creating pet portraits for people! It opened up more occupational opportunities and made me realise the affect of pets on the health and well being of people and how much people love their pets (however, going down that route I feel would open another can of worms which I am extremely interested in).

In my experience throughout my life I get quite negative reactions from people on telling them I did a degree in fine art "what? you did a degree in colouring in?!" Is a popular reaction I get. On reading this I hope people realise how valid an occupation art is and can be. I am very proud of the achievements I have gained and the many things in my life and career that art has enabled me to gain. I was able to support adults with autism through creative arts in my job which gained me the experience and transferable skills to study OT... Which moves on to my next point. The reasons people choose to study OT. One of the reasons for me is based on the history of OT and the fact you can use creativity within OT practice. This is also found in the research by Craik et al (2003). However, based within many physical settings I have yet to use any creative techniques with people.

I feel this would be a valid occupation or intervention for people with physical conditions and I feel OT has somewhat lost it's creative roots through budgets, time constraints and a medical model focus on our profession in an attempt to promote and advocate the profession. 

I know it is important to keep a medical focus but I say bring more creative activities and occupations back! Lets go back to the roots of our awesome profession of which I am very proud to be studying.

This has been a personal reflection for me and as you can tell it is something I feel quite passionate about. I'm hoping to base my research proposal around some of these ideas and I will attend my dissertation module launch on Wednesday to explore and synthesise my ideas further.

The daffodil remains my favourite flower - Is this because it is a symbol of spring and it reminds me of sunshine? Possibly, but now on reflection I have realised why. Art is powerful stuff.

References:

Craik C. Gissane C. Douthwaite J. Phillip E. (2011) 'Factors Influencing the Career Choice of First-Year Occupational Therapy Students' British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(3), pp. 114-120.

Peruzza N. Kinsella A. (2010) ' Creative Arts Occupations in Therapeutic Practice: A Review of the Literature.' British Journal of Occupational therapy 73(6) pp. 261-268.

Reynolds F. Prior S. (2006) 'Creative Adventures and Flow in Art-Making: A Qualitative Study of Women Living With Cancer'. British Journal of Occupational Therapy 69(6), pp. 255- 262.

Reynolds F. (2003) 'Reclaiming a Positive Identity in Chronic Illness Through Artistic Occupation' OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health. 23(3) pp. 118-127.

Schmid T. (2004) ' Meanings of Creativity Within Occupational Therapy Practice' Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 51 pp. 80-88.

February

"Hello, my name is Vicky and i'm an Occupational Therapist"

Well not quite yet... but I have been refreshing my BSL signing skills during this month and learned how to sign 'occupational therapist' in a deaf awareness lecture with a lady who lost her hearing at the age of 12 due to contracting meningitis. She went on to study to be an OT and she highlighted the problems she endured during her training as her educators and lecturers often didn't have the awareness and communication abilities to support her whilst she studied. She also explained the difficulties she faces as a qualified OT. This session was really insightful and revealed the importance of being deaf aware and how loosing your hearing can affect your life and participation within occupations. A great insightful, OT session all round! The class also learned how to finger spell, which was a good little revision for me as I have already attended a beginners course in BSL. 

...Notice my cat on my lap in these photographs... she is currently recovering from recent surgery. She is deaf also and I have my own little cat gesture sign language which I do to communicate with her. Cat OT in the making!

Back to school.

I have been back at university for 3 weeks now and in that time I have completed my second assignment and started 2 new modules and endured a lot of train journeys!

I feel a little more confident this time submitting my assignment now that I have passed one previously. However, I don't really know how i've done until results day! I have really taken on board the feedback I received from my last assignment and have tried my best to improve on these areas and have read more broadly using a wider range of academic texts and journal articles, so fingers crossed!

One of the modules we have started is our scholarship and research module whereby we are to submit a research proposal in the summer! I felt very anxious over this module as I have never done a science based or research based degree before so it is all new to me! My tutor was aware of this and supported me really well during the session. We went back to basics and have been learning about the many different types of research and processes.  A lot of the words are extremely abstract at the moment to me and I feel that until I actually carry out some of the processes, I won't really understand them fully. I am trying to come up with a research question - I'm currently thinking I would like to link my knowledge of autism and my experience of art and relating it to OT. However, i've not had a lot of experience of OT with autism so that will be my job for the foreseeable future - doing lots of research into research!

We have also began some practical training sessions to finish off our intro to OT module and I attended the moving and handling session on Friday! It's good to learn the basics to transfer into practice!

We have also started another module where we have been looking at the OT process in-depth and relating this to practice placement experience we have had. This has really helped and re-enforced my understanding of the theory.

Placement update!

For my next placement I have found out I will be spending 8 weeks with a community stroke team. I am really looking forward to this to build up on my experience from the observational placement with a community neuro team and it is an area of interest for me! I also really enjoy community work however, I am a little disappointed as I feel my placements so far haven't given me a wide range of experience and I really needed a hospital placement, paediatrics or mental health. Fingers crossed for next time! The bonus is that it is in commutable distance so I won't have to move away from home for the 8 weeks.

So that has been February.

It's been a very busy month and now there is a lot of weight off my shoulders now the assignment is handed in. It has freed up time to concentrate on my new modules and research proposal! I feel March is going to be a month of lots of learning for me!

Time really does fly on this course!