Interveiw Reflection

 Overall, I feel like my interview went really well.  I was a bit nervous going into it, the only interviews I had done were for occupational therapy programs. To prepare for the interview, I reviewed over the materials Dr. Lancaster provided for us. I also talked through basic interview questions and topics with one of my peers.

One thing that went differently than I expected was the overall atmosphere of the interview. I expected it to feel intimidating and tense, but it was the exact opposite. My interviewer put me at ease and made me feel comfortable. I was able to answer the questions she asked confidently and appropriately.

Some things that I would change if I could go through this process again would be my positioning during the interview and how I answered the questions I was asked. Some of the constructive criticism I received from my interviewer was that I really needed a solid background with no distractions. During the interview, there was a ceiling fan visible in the background, so if I could do it again, I would position myself in front of a blank wall.

Another piece of constructive criticism I received from my interviewer is that I needed to dive a little deeper when answering questions. If I had this to do over again, I would include more personal experiences in my answers to questions.

One thing that I learned during this process is that I am prepared and capable to be an occupational therapist. When interviewing for a position, I must remember to be myself and be confident, because I have been preparing for 2 years for this moment. Another thing I learned during this process is that it is okay to pause and get your bearings while answering questions. It is better to answer thoughtfully than to answer quickly.

 I think this process was very helpful in preparing me for future interviews as an OT practitioner. I am thankful for the opportunity to have participated in this process.

Locus of Control

What is Locus of control? Before this assignment, I had not given it much thought. With my Bachelors degree being in psychology, I had heard the term ‘locus of control before’ but I was not exactly sure what it was.  According to a blog written by Erik Meira, The Science PT, locus of control refers to how a person perceives causes of change in their life. Some people understand their circumstances to be a direct result of external forces, things that are out of their control. Others understand their circumstances to be a direct result of internal forces, things inside of their control such as personal actions (Meira, 2013).

In my Leadership II course, we were asked to complete Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale. This is a questionnaire consists of 13 items and 6 filler items and you are instructed to select the statement that you most agree with. I personally found this to be difficult, because in some instances I like neither of the choices given to me. After it is completed, the questionnaire is scored using a scoring key. The total score ranges from 0 being completely Internal Locus of control and 23 being completely external locus of control. My score was 14, almost in the middle but leaning towards external locus of control.

I believe that my score is fairly accurate.  One of the things I struggle with is pessimism. I tend to refer to this as being a realist, but if I am being honest, I can be a bit negative. This is something that I am actively working on. I hope that in the future I am able to say that my score leans more toward an internal locus of control. I do think that having a more or less neutral locus of control will be helpful in clinical practice. This way, I can see things from all perspectives, but I do understand the importance of encouraging an internal locus of control in clients.  I think it is important to encourage clients in a way that leads them towards an internal locus of control so that they can focus on what is in their control rather than what is out of their control. According to the Science PT, this is the goal of an ethical provider (Meira, 2013). 

           

           

Reference:

Meira, E. (2013, December 5). Are your patients out of control? Erik. Retrieved August 02, 2020, from https://thesciencept.com/are-your-patients-out-of-control/

My, How Things have Changed!

A year doesn’t seem like such a long time ago, but when I compare my two drawings I feel like I am a totally different person. I guess a lot can change in a year. The drawing I created when participating in this activity the first time is pretty different from my current drawing. Initially, my drawing included a triangle shaped face, meaning that at the time, I thought leaders were born, not made. In my current drawing, I included a square shaped face because I have now seen that anyone can become a leader in the right circumstances. In my original drawing, I didn't include any eyebrows, meaning that being a “leader” wasn't really my “forte”. Now, I can identify my leadership as being primarily behind the scenes. My first drawing had no freckles, indicating that at the time, I did not see self-awareness as a necessary in leadership. I now know that self-awareness is very important in effective leadership. I believe that our current situation has definitely changed my opinion on the use of technology and leadership, I believe now that it is important.

A lot has changed since the start of OT school. I have grown so much as a person and as a future practitioner. Coming from small town Mississippi, I look back now and see a lot of my thinking as being close-minded. I am so thankful for UTHSC, my classmates, and instructors for helping change my way of thinking for the better.

OT 533 SIM

Over all, I think the SIM encounter went well. I was very prepared and I feel like I communicated the information well to the client. I was very conscious of my body language and made sure that I thought through every word I said to ensure that my intentions were clear. If given the opportunity to do the SIM lab over, I think I would give the client more opportunities to speak. While I think my communication was effective, it was kind of like a one-sided conversation. I did stop a few times and ask if she had any questions, but I think I could have been more intentional with my pauses. I think a lot of it had to do with the amount of information I had to present in such a short period of time. I was very focused of hitting all the points mentioned in the rubric.

An OT student can communicate an attitude of caring by using active listening skills and proper body positioning. Positioning yourself beside your client, especially in an emotional situation like today, levels the playing field in a sense. It shows the client that we are in this together and that you are in their side. Active listening communicates to the client that their feelings are valid and important. It shows that you are hearing what they are saying and that what they are saying matters.

This encounter, for me, has just reiterated the fact that we are there to serve our clients. Our clients should be our center focus at all times. You have to be able to see things from their perspective. Another thing that I took away from this encounter is that we have to be able to accommodate all moods and situations. As OTs it is so important for us to be adaptable, to be able to roll with the punches. Situations may not always be ideal and there will be times that the unexpected happens, but even when the environment is less than ideal, we must maintain calm, cool, and client-centered.

Neuro Note 4

For Neuro Note 4, I chose to watch Beth Malone’s Ted Talk, How My Dad’s Dementia Changed my Idea of Death (and Life). I chose this Ted Talk because we recently covered this topic in my Neurological Aspects of Occupational Therapy class. This topic is also close to my heart because my grandfather has early/middle stage Dementia due to Parkinson’s disease. I thought this video would be interesting when I read the title, but what I did not know is how much I would actually relate to what Beth Malone had to say.

Beth starts off this TED Talk with a statement that can only be described as morbid. She says, “ I am going to kill my dad.” To someone who has never witnessed the reality of this condition, this seems unthinkable, but to someone watching this condition take hold of their loved one, it may seem like the only practical way out.  Beth Malone's father was diagnosed with Frontotemporal lobe Dementia at the age of 65.  In her talk, Beth describes the harsh realities of Dementia. Having to move her father from his house to a nursing home, watching his personality change, and watching his physical and mental states decline, these things not only take a toll on the individual diagnosed, but on the loved ones that care for them.

While my grandfather’s case of dementia is quite different to that of Beth’s dad, I can relate, in a sense, to her thought process. It is unbelievably hard to watch someone that you have seen as a strong caretaker, slowly turn into someone who is fragile and needs to be taken care of. Like I said previously, not only does this condition affect the client, but it affects the family as well.

Another thing that Beth talks about in this video is the importance of death preparation and education. Death is not necessarily a fun topic, but it is something that needs to be talked about. In the video, Beth talks about how her family discusses her father’s death frequently after his diagnoses. She also mentions how her family was not prepared, and how she wished they had talked about death when everyone was healthy. This is just another reason why educating and preparing the family and caregivers is so important.

From an Occupational therapy perspective, I think this is why it is not only important to take care of your client, but  also to take care of their family as well. While we need to educate our clients and make sure adaptive equipment and other resources are available, we also need to be sure that the caretakers and family are educated on the condition. When a client is diagnosed with a condition of this nature, it is so important that their loved ones be prepared for what the condition looks like and what the future of the client may hold.

In the case of my grandfather, I am so thankful that he has made his final wishes known. He is currently in the middle stages of Parkinson's disease, but has made sure he has everything written down and in order before his condition progresses, even down to the songs he wants to be played at his service. My grandfather was a medical doctor who practiced general medicine in our little community for 50+ years. When he realized he had Parkinson’s disease, he made sure that everyone in our family knew what the future held and was prepared for it. I believe that because of this, it has made his diagnoses just a little bit easier to cope with, especially for my grandmother and his children.

Overall, I think this TED Talk did a great job of explaining the harsh realities of dementia and what families dealing with this diagnosis may go through.  Beth Malone did a great job sharing her story and relating it back to a topic that is so important, death education and preperation. I would recommend this video to all future OT practitioners. This video is a great example of how important it is to empathetic towards our clients and their families, as well as how important client/caregiver education is.  Diagnoses such as Dementia are hard for everyone, especially the client and their families. This is why it is so important that we as practitioners do everything we can to help them process it and prepare for the future.

References:

Malone, B. (n.d.). How My Dad's Dementia Changed My Idea of Death (and Life). Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/beth_malone_how_my_dad_s_dementia_changed_my_idea_of_death_and_life/up-next#t-233447

Media project-Innovators Statement

 For the media project, my assigned material was newspaper and my client's name was Susan. Susan was a 55 year old who was diagnosed with ALS. She had some trouble with fine motor function in her hands and mobility in her upper extremities. When I first read Susan’s case, I thought, “What in the world am I going to do with newspaper?” After much thought and consideration, I came up with newspaper flowers. In Susan’s file, it mentioned that she enjoyed scrapbooking and crafting, so what better way to work on fine motor skills and upper extremity mobility than crafts!

Before this project, I had not given much thought into how everyday materials could be used in Occupational therapy. Of course, I had seen therapists use tin cans and other weighted objects, but newspaper? I had never thought about using something like newspaper to come up with an intervention or activity. After completing this project, I am now aware of how useful everyday objects can be in occupational therapy. Whether you have to come up with an intervention on the fly or the materials you need are not readily available, everyday objects can come in handy.

This assignment has changed the way I think about the materials used in therapy. Before this project, I considered things like weighted cuffs, universal cuffs, and peg boards as occupational therapy materials, but now, I see that almost any material can be used in therapy with a little bit of thought and creativity.
This project also emphasized the importance of client-centeredness. It would have been easy to come up with just any activity that involved a newspaper, but the fact that it needed to incorporate something important to my client really made me think. It also showed me new ways to be client-centered. Say, for instance, that your client can not afford to order equipment from a therapy company. I now feel that I can confidently provide advice on how to use everyday materials to achieve the same goals in a more cost effective manner. 

Overall, I think this project helped make me a better future OT practitioner. It made me think outside the box and pushed me out of my comfort zone. It also taught me to look at things through an “OT lens” and emphasized the importance of being client-centere. Even when things may seem challenging, we as OT practitioners have to be adaptable and innovative, doing whatever it takes to meet our client’s needs.

Neuro Note 3

For Neuro Note 3, I chose to watch and read about Alex Coriell’s Journey with ALS. I chose this topic because it is one we recently covered in class and I was interested in seeing how a younger adult dealt with this diagnoses. Alex Coriell’s wife, Melissa, filmed this video. It shows just how fast this condition progresses and how devastating it is.

Alex Coriell was diagnosed with ALS when he was 29 years old. He was a Husband and a father to 3 young children. The video begins with footage of when he was first diagnosed in January 2013; Alex still had the ability to walk and could use his hands. By September of 2013, he opted to have a feeding tube placed after he lost his ability to swallow. A few months after having the feeding tube placed, Alex lost his ability to walk. Alex decided to start a blog to advocate for and encourage others with ALS. When Alex lost the ability to use his fingers, he continued to blog using his noes to type. When he could no longer use his nose, he used his eyes (via eye gaze).

 Despite the inevitable outcome, Alex never gave up on life. He continued to live his life to the fullest, doing everything he could to stay active and keep moving. Along with blogging, he spoke at public events and advocated for ALS, spreading awareness of the condition.  Alex is quite possibly one of the best examples of strength and perseverance I have ever seen. He never lost his joy. Alex passed away in November of 2015, about 2 years from the time he was diagnosed.

One thing that I noticed about this video is how much adaptive equipment Alex used. It featured clips of him using an eye gaze device, a shower chair, an iPad base that attached to his chair, and even a paintbrush that was attached to a helmet. This video shows so many good examples of different adaptive equipment and tools that may be useful to someone with the same or similar diagnoses.

The video also showed how Alex modified some everyday tasks to fit his level of physical function. When he lost the use of his hands, He was still able to figure out how to shave and brush his teeth on his own. When he could no longer walk or use his arms, he figured out how to play a game with his children using his feet.

Another things that really stuck out to me was the role that spirituality played in how Alex processed and coped with his condition. He was a practicing Christian (as am I) and saw his diagnoses not as a death sentence, but as a way to show Christ to others. I believe that this played a big part in the strength and positivity he displayed throughout the progression of his disease. He continued to stay positive and find joy, even in the hardest circumstances.

There a million things in this video that I could talk about in relation to Occupational therapy. It features so many things that we talk about in our Occupational Therapy classes, ranging from adaptive equipment to spirituality. This video also shows the progression of ALS and the toll it takes on the individual diagnosed as well as the family.  Overall, I would recommend this video to any and all OT students.

References:

Henderson, W. (2018, February 1). Alex Coriell's Journey with ALS. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://alsnewstoday.com/2018/02/01/alex-coriells-journey-with-als/?utm_source=ALS News&utm_campaign=856209f0b7-RSS_FRIDAY_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0593028b75-856209f0b7-71721017