Contemplating the Capstone
Category: SIS Article
Jan
28
Contemplating the Capstone
by Pamela Kasyan-Howe, OTD FOTA SIS Fieldwork
Jan
28
Virtual Reality in Occupational Therapy
By Jonathan E. Urrely, OT-S and Carlos Martoral
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Jan
28
ASSESSING STUDENTS’ CLINICAL REASONING ON FIELDWORK
By Maria A. Colmer, OTD, OTR/L, Associate Professor, Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, Florida Gulf Coast University, OT Program, FLOTEC
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Motivation: An important factor in adherence to home programs for patients with chronic conditions
Category: SIS Article
Jan
28
Motivation: An important factor in adherence to home programs for patients with chronic conditions
By Kristin Domville, DrOT, OTR/L and Kaye Rubio, Ph.D., MHS, OTR/L, CLT-LANA,
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Joint effort with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder affairs in a home modification program.
Category: Membership Blog
Jan
16
Joint effort with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder affairs in a home modification program.
Eligible providers will have 60 days to complete the application for funding. Providers must apply by February 14, 2022.
FOTA's Government Affairs is proud to announce a joint effort with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and the Department of Elder affairs in a home modification program designed to enable older adults in Florida to remain in their homes, rather than move to nursing homes or other assisted care facilities. The goal of this program is to enable low-income elderly persons to remain in their homes through low-cost, low barrier, high impact home modifications to reduce older adults’ risk of falling, improve general safety, increase accessibility, and to improve their functional abilities in their home. The program requires that an occupational therapist play the lead role for the home modification team.
Details are limited at this time. We anticipate the cap for home mods will be around $5,000 for each client, and are still working on identifying an appropriate reimbursement rate for clinician. The initiative will occur throughout Florida, so where ever you are, you are needed. We are encouraging OTs to register with AHCA as Medicaid providers to shore up our resources in prep for this influx of around $127 million dollars earmarked for this initiative.
Please review the following alert to learn more.
Florida Agency for Health Care Administration Announces Application Period for Home and Community-Based Services Provider Funding
~The initial application period focuses on supporting providers with workforce recruitment and retention~
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Today, the Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency) announced the initial application period for three components of the Agency’s Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) enhanced funding plan. Eligible providers will have 60 days to complete the application for funding. Providers must apply by February 14, 2022.
“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, taking care of Florida’s seniors and most vulnerable residents has been and continues to be a top priority,” said Agency Secretary Simone Marstiller. “The Agency is pleased to invest this enhanced funding in Florida’s home and community-based services providers to strengthen their ability to recruit and retain staff to care for the most vulnerable and enhance the ability of these Floridians to receive care in a community-based setting.”
The three components included in the initial application cycle include:
- •One-time provider stipend payments to support HCBS providers;
- One one-time payments to aid eligible HCBS providers in recruiting and retaining qualified staff; and
- Funding to support the purchase of delayed egress systems for group homes and adult day training centers.
The application process for eligible providers is to ensure appropriate measures are put in place to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. The Agency will announce additional application periods for remaining program components, which are expected to occur by April 2022.
Florida’s HCBS programs serve the state’s aging population, as well as individuals with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities. For more information about Florida’s strategy for administering the increased FMAP funding for HCBS providers and to apply or obtain updates on upcoming application cycles, please visit: https://ahca.myflorida.com/hcbsapplication.
Nov
16
Jul
02
FOTA21 Conference: Student Poster Submissions
Here are some tips to follow when completing your student poster submission:
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First and foremost, make sure you submit your poster under student and not professional. This will help to decrease any added stress closer to conference when you realize you may have been placed in the wrong group. The conference committee goes off what you submit and will place your poster in the group accordingly.
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Jun
21
Occupational Therapy Practitioners as Leaders
An others-oriented perspective is at the core of most occupational therapy practitioners. Occupational therapy (OT) is a holistic profession built on the ideals of being client centered and helping others live a life they deserve and value, which I believe is the reason many of us fell in love with the profession. Occupational therapists bring a unique, client-focused, occupation based, and holistic perspective to the table. With this viewpoint, we are given a responsibility to employ it in leadership, as it is increasingly valuable to healthcare as a whole.
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Two new assessments of sensory integration and processing skills: The SOSI-M and the COP-R
Category: SIS Article
Jun
21
By: Gustavo Reinoso, Ph.D., OTR/L Dominique Kiefer-Blanche, OTD, OTR/L Erna I. Blanche, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA
As our understanding of sensory integration and the processing construct evolves, so should our measures and assessments. Occupational therapists working with children who present deficits in sensory integration and processing use an array of measures in clinical practice, such as standardized testing, proxy questionnaires, family interviews, biographical accounts, and self-report measures. The information provided by these measures assist practitioners in composing a clinical profile, formulate hypotheses, and develop a plan of care relevant to these children’s lives and their families. The results from these measures are often combined with the use of clinical observations. The primary purpose of clinical observations is to allow the therapist to use clinical judgment to analyze a child’s performance in relationship to sensory processing as informed by evolving theory and research (Blanche & Reinoso, 2008).
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May
31
INTEGRATING HEALTH LITERACY IN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Shirish Lala, EdD(c), MHS, OTR/L Academic Fieldwork Coordinator Daytona State College
The pursuit of acquiring literacy is intentional, purposeful, and deictic, and subject to change based on the contextual demands (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek, & Henry, 2013). Literacy can be loosely defined as a construct that provides an individual with the ability to read, write, and integrate information across a broad range of platforms in order to identify, recognize, and implement knowledge for the purpose of personal,social, or financial gain. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes health literacy (HL) as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (National Network of Libraries of Medicine [NNLM], 2011). However, according to the Centers for Disease Control, low HL is a serious public health issue affecting nine out of every ten adults (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2018a). At least 50% of the adults without high school education are at risk for experiencing severe health crises including medication errors, increased hospital visits, higher mortality, and greater health expenditure as compared to those with adequate HL levels (Brach et al., 2012).
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FOTA HILL DAY 21' UPDATE
Category: PRESIDENTIAL BLOG
Mar
16
The Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA) is proud to continue its service to members and consumers of OT during the 2021 Florida Legislative Session. Thus far we have spoken to at least eight different legislators directly involved in the examination and vetting of our proposed updates to the Occupational Therapy Scope of Practice (Scope). Your FOTA representatives have also met with other relevant stakeholders such as The Florida Board of OT and the Florida Department of Health to solicit feedback and support of these essential updates to our Scope.
Now it’s your turn!
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1 Comments
Feb
22
FOCUS QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER DEADLINE IS MARCH 15
FOTA Boosts Quarterly Publication
In a persistent move towards meeting the needs of its membership and readers, FOCUS, the official publication of the Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA) has been renamed The FOCUS Quarterly. The Author’s Guidelines have been adapted to include formal review of submitted materials, and inclusion of a variety of opportunities for the novice and seasoned writers in the community of occupational therapy and collaborating partners.
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Oct
30
Hello,
Just a reminder that there is now a requirement for a Human Trafficking CE
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Aug
26
Florida OT's,
On August 3, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed FY 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Rule and Fact Sheet. Despite previous collaborative advocacy efforts, the proposed rule contains a 9% cut to reimbursement for therapy services to offset the increases to the value of office visit evaluation and management (E&M) codes that primarily benefit primary care physicians. We believe therapy practitioners cannot withstand the cuts required to keep the budget increases neutral. Changes must be made to protect therapy services.
As this is a Federal initiative, we are asking that you reach out to CMS and your congressional members directly to express your concerns. We have provided a template to help guide your discussion, attached here. Including your own personal and client stories in the letter will have the greatest impact on those voting for or against these measures. Also included here is a link to your Florida Congressional Members and a link to AOTA's stance on the matter.
Your dedication to health and advocacy is why the profession continues to enjoy industry leading growth and increasing recognition in medicine.
Thank you,
FOTA Governmental Affairs
- Link to AOTA stance: https://tinyurl.com/y24mzhju
- Link to Florida Congressional Members: https://tinyurl.com/y4fpc4h3"
- Link to Letter
questions? contact [email protected]
CHILDREN AND COVID-19
Category: SIS Article
Aug
19
CHILDREN AND COVID-19
by: Kimberly McKinney MOT, MPT, tDPT, PHC
FOTA SIS Early Intervention/School Systems Chair H2 Health at Georgia-Pacific Palatka
The news about the coronavirus is everywhere, but what effect is it having on kids? According to a new study from China’s Shenzhen province (led by scientists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention) believes that although children do contract COVID-19 they do not get sick as quickly as adults. This is believed to be due to children having healthier lungs (from not smoking or fewer years of exposure to pollution) (Pappas, 2020).
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Aug
19
MAKE YOUR COVID-19 COMMUNICATIONS TO STAFF MORE EFFECTIVE
By: Michael Steinhauer OTR, MPH, FAOTA
FOTA SIS Administration & Management Chair (Modified from Matt Cornner, Managing Director, Talent Development Solutions, Advisory.com)
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Social Disengagement and Isolation During a Global Pandemic: Occupational Therapy Strategies for You and Your Client
Category: uncategorized
Aug
19
Social Disengagement and Isolation During a Global Pandemic: Occupational Therapy Strategies for You and Your Client
by: Anjali K. Parti, OTD, OTR/L
Mental Health Special Interest Section FOTA
As you are all aware, the United States along with the global community is experiencing a period of social isolation, disengagement, social distancing, heightened public health precautions, and an overall sense of change in ‘normal’ due to a novel strain of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Several countries are experiencing new social realities and limitations in order to prevent retrieving or spreading the virus. All Americans are encouraged to self-quarantine and limit exposure to gatherings or environments of a quantity of 10 or less people and implement 6-foot distance between one another. In short, Americans are discouraged from leaving their homes if possible. This is a significant societal shift which can yield many challenges to routine, personal and professional growth, emotional regulation, wellness, mental health, coping strategies stemming from a general feeling of ‘cabin fever’.
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Manualization of Occupational Therapy Interventions: A Crucial but Overlooked Step in Building Evidence
Category: SIS Article
Aug
19
Manualization of Occupational Therapy Interventions: A Crucial but Overlooked Step in Building Evidence
Manualization of an intervention is an essential component in the implementation of research studies. When collaborating on research teams, manualization gives a template to check for fidelity and thus determine if the intervention is carried out in the way in which it was intended by the program developers. Murphy and Gutman (2012) have outlined essential elements in intervention fidelity that are often absent from study descriptions. For example, within the intervention manual researchers should describe the intervention design to include the number, length, and frequency of intervention sessions. The researchers should explain both the theoretical framework and any clinical guidelines that provided the foundation for the intervention. The manual must also define the “active ingredients” or elements of the intervention proven to be responsible for changes in specific outcomes, often quite complex in intervention research. Careful consideration must be given to the training of individuals who will be implementing the study’s procedures. Implementation training is not only outlined in the manual, but the manual content can also be used for training purposes. Written/electronic intervention manuals can be an important tool to assist in fidelity as they provide a means to articulate the distinct differences of the intervention and ensure outcomes are replicated.
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Aug
19
COVID-19 AND THE IMPACT ON OT AND OTA FIELDWORK
By: Kim Dudzinsk MS, OTR/L & Angela Sampson OTR/L
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Aug
19
PANDEMIC, SOCIAL INJUSTICE, COPING AND HOPE Living through Layers of Pandemic and Social Injustice: C ontextualized through Voices of Coping and Hope, Part I
By:
Nothing prepares anyone for life’s adversities. We are faced with the impact of COVID-19, a pandemic with shameless impunity, resulting in occupational disruption felt by all regardless of age, culture, education or location. As if that was not enough, we now grieve and stand together as occupational therapy practitioners and members of the global community after witnessing the senseless death of George Floyd. The shocking visual record of the incident then triggers memories of injustice towards other members of the African American and other marginalized communities. Layered together, the adversities distract us momentarily. They disrupt the roles, habits and routines to which we have become accustomed, thereby disrupting our engagement in living, being productive, and belonging. They leave emotional scars if we let them linger. At the same time, as an occupational being, I wonder what I can and must do for myself, my family and relations, my profession, and the immediate and global communities where I live. Therefore, I decided that through this two-part article, I will share the enlightenment I gather from the literature, professional organizations, and then contextualize them through lived experiences extracted from my conversations with fellow occupational beings, the social media, and written artifacts available to me from popular and scholarly literature. Part I covers the impact of COVID-19 on occupational engagement and shared ways of living during a pandemic. Part II addresses how the recent death of George Floyd and other African Americans has triggered a global response of grief, anger, and a remembrance of similar events in history, and forging a collective conscience about systemic racism and impetus for social change.
Keywords: pandemic, COVID-19, occupational disruption, occupational engagement, occupational resilience, social justice, systemic racism police brutality, collective conscience Retrieved 07.10.2020 from
Introduction
As we evolved as occupational beings, we developed routines, habits, roles, and rituals that make our lives predictable, manageable, efficient, and enjoyable. They keep us well. For example, our occupation of sleep provides rest and restoration preparing us for the day ahead that is likewise predictable, manageable, efficient, and enjoyable. Our health and wellbeing are predicated on our ability to sustain a balance between those that we need to do, those that we do because we are obliged to, and those that we do simply because we enjoy doing them. These are the perspectives that are most useful for me in living my occupational balance, aware that other individuals will have different focal and global ways by which they achieve their own sense of equilibrium, or their sense of occupational balance (Wagman, Håkansson, & Bjorlund,2012). And then, something different can happen – a phone call about an exciting family news, a new baby in the family, or conversely, the departure of a loved one. Regardless of difference, the event creates a disruption which in turn triggers similar responses in our brain that responds to novelty. And for a few minutes, sometimes, hours, we respond with excitement, sadness, or another emotion that provides new opportunities for appropriate (or not) action learning. Not only does our central nervous system thrive on this novelty, it also feeds on the new experiences that move us forward in this world which then can positively impact life expectancy. (Dean, N., 2017; Brunzeck & Duzel, 2006).
However, as mentioned earlier, nothing prepares anyone for life’s adversities, especially when the disruption involves a life-threatening phenomenon such as a pandemic, and later layered with social justice issues. We are faced with the impact of COVID-19, a pandemic with shameless impunity. True to its mission of protecting the nation from health, safety and security threats, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) continually provides information about COVID-19 and guides actions to fight the disease, urging everyone to do the same. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the nation has been divisive and inconsistent in following recommended precautionary measures and premature opening of businesses (and schools) have resulted in record cases in many parts of the country, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Additionally, the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reports that as of the writing of this article, half of the cases detected with COVID-19 have been individuals age 35 and below, compared to the earlier majority of the elderly referred to then the vulnerable population (Soucheray, 2020). The world is also faced with reactions to the death of George Floyd, referred by family and friends as the gentle giant, in the presence of concerned citizens who pleaded with the police to let him go. Immediately, the video went viral across the globe, and triggered not only rallies about the incident, but also recollection of oppression and death from police brutality and racial discrimination. Rightly so, Fernandez & Burch, (2020) summarized George Floyd’s life that went from his intent to touch it with his life to the final point when he had to beg authority to allow him to breathe. My intent in this reflective article is not only to share what is available in popular and scholarly literature, but also to contextualize it to the human experience and ways of coping extracted from my observations and own experiences, informal group and/or individual conversations, and postings from social media. Hopefully the information can provide comfort in our collective conscience and provide exemplars for coping and living filled with occupational disruption and imbalance. The first article focuses on COVID-19, and the second one focuses on social and occupational justice. It is the least I can do as an individual occupational being.
Approach to Harvesting Information
The approach I used to collect materials for this article needed to be consistent with the purpose of the article, which is to contextualize constructs from scholarly articles surrounding COVID-19 and social injustice. Contextualization lends to attaching authentic, ideal and full meaning to the human experience through exemplars found in its larger, yet intimate settings and backgrounds (Miller & Dingwall, 1997). Gathering these exemplars involved collecting scholarly or popular publications related to COVID-19 and systemic racism and connecting them with past interactions and shared information from Zoom or face-to-face video interactions in classrooms, social events, family gatherings, meals with friends. This combination of published and observed exemplars provided me with the opportunity to track shared experiences and trace the evolution of a collective conscience, which then provided the essential substantiation and methodological dimension for contributing to occupational science literature (Miller & Dingwall, 1997). This allows for a common or alternative, albeit creative way of engaging in living during a pandemic and social injustice, sprinkled with messages and strategies of hope and resilience.
Informed Guidance for Action
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Since the beginning of 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services, through its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been providing updates and guidance to blend objective science and popular consumption of information to nurture public health. Schuchar (2020) summarized the detection of the initial cases of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 later called COVID-19. Consistent with the CDC mission Schuchar’s report tracked the geographic spread of the pandemic from Wuhan, China, not only in the US but also in other parts of the world. Schuchar also reported other factors that contributed to the rapid initiation and acceleration of infection including travel, events and gatherings, workplaces and other settings such as skilled nursing and long-term care facilities, and hospitals. Today, we see COVID-19 as an emerging, rapidly evolving situation from initial, and cryptic detection and spread in Seattle before any active monitoring of behaviors and preventive measures could be gathered to guide future directions (Bedford, Greninger, Roychoudhury, et al, 2020).
The World Health Organization (WHO)
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a disease of emergency proportions and international concern that came with a risk of a worldwide spread in January 2020 and classified it as a pandemic three months later in March. Joining the rest of the public health authorities around the world, WHO took steps not only to contain the pandemic, but also to address the stress that results typically from a pandemic by developing considerations for action developing messages that support mental and psychosocial responses in different target groups during the outbreak. The target groups comprised the general population, healthcare professionals, team leaders or manages in healthcare facilities, people who care for children, vulnerable populations and their care providers, and people in isolation by choice or because they themselves are infected with the virus (World Health Organization, 2020).
The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®)
The response to crisis of the occupational therapy profession goes back to its inception while serving soldiers returning from World War I (Peters & Reed, 2006). This responsiveness has continued to this day as the world faces diseases emanating from natural disasters, war, terroristic attacks and now COVID-19. With the recent entrée of corona virus 2019, the American Occupational Therapy Association expressed its advisory opinion through its Ethics Commission so that practitioners could negotiate the escalating moral distress related to the dilemma they face in providing care versus protecting their health or that of their loved ones (AOTA, 2020b).
With challenges faced by occupational therapy educational programs, the Accreditation Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) has responded with a continual watch on the pandemic, while providing flexibility for occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs to implement essential changes in delivering their curriculum. It is after all, important to maintain the authority of the ACOTE® as the accrediting agency, which in turn results in protecting the quality of educational programs where the bottom line as stated in its preamble is the protection of students and the consumer public (ACOTE®, 2020). It also recognizes the US Department of Education’s release of a broad approval to use distance education, adjustments made without requesting for prior ACOTE® approval is only temporarily effective, and only effective during the pandemic. Once the pandemi is over, the temporary authorization will be lifted, and any program that opts to continue using the distance education model, if that is not their primary mode of delivery, will have to seek ACOTE® approval before continuing.
The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT)
The WFOT has been a stalwart of readiness for disaster preparedness, addressing any issue that poses a threat to living, maintaining health and wellbeing of individuals and populations around the globe. Shortly after the WHO announced SARS-COV-2, also referred to as novel coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19, the WFOT published its public statement on occupational therapy’s response to the pandemic. It restated to the world public what the word “occupation” meant to include those that humans have to do, choose to do, and are required to do in order to occupy their time and place as occupational beings (WFOT, 2020). In its public statement the world federation also reiterated the construct of occupational justice to be a human right so that individuals and populations can continue to engage in occupations so that they can survive and find meaning in their journey towards their and their community’s wellbeing. Within this statement was the implication of responding ethically to the needs of the community as occupational therapy professionals to provide access by consumers to our services so they can continue engaging in necessary and chosen occupations as optimally as possible. This ethical responsibility includes the traditional manner by which occupational therapy looks like. It also provides opportunities occupational therapists to participate differently in disaster disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes but in this case, a pandemic related to a deadly virus. For example, an occupational therapist in Richmond, VA who joined a group called RVA Masks 4 Health and continued to make masks using her 3-D printer. In doing so, she was able to create adaptive protective technology and continue her role as an occupational therapist while she was teleworking to the schoolchildren who were homebound (McKee, 2020). But there are many other situations that globally, occupational therapists can hop out of their traditional roles, and into serving people affected by COVID-19, including those who are quarantined, and those who isolated in a hospital or another setting with active COVID-19 using face-to-face or telehealth modalities. Roles, Routines, Habits, Rituals and Traditions As of the writing of this article, the fourth edition of the Occupational Therapy Framework (OTPF 4th Edition) is in publication. In its early iterations, it began as the Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy (1979). It has continued to guide occupational therapy practice is now referred to as the OTPF 4th edition or simply OPTF 4. Periodic revisions project a dynamic profession that flexes with the times for best practice (AOTA 2020a). The proposed revision shows an increased recognition to address individuals but also groups and populations in the entire document. The proposed document identifies the foundations of occupational therapy in its contribution to practitioner success, including a mention of the important role of occupational science (OS) in the practice of occupational therapy, and the inclusion throughout the document of OS concepts such as occupational justice, marginalization, deprivation, identity, satisfaction, engagement, and performance, among others. This is a significant and necessary recognition of synergistic relationship between science and practice (Carrasco, 2019). The draft also includes clarification of terminology and revisions to be consistent with the WHO taxonomy from the International Classification of Functioning (ICF). Among clarifications include definitions of occupation and activity, sexual activity, and some client factors such as interoception, as well as preparatory methods and outcomes. Like other revisions, those in the Performance Patterns OPTF 4 section provide substantiation and clarification of occupational roles, routines, habits and rituals. It provides guidance for the practitioner in understanding why human beings do what they do while performing their daily occupations whether considered healthy or not. During times of challenge such as during a pandemic, roles, habits, routines and rituals can be disrupted. Recognizing the importance of routines and habits to life balance and satisfaction, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Agency (SAMHSA) published a guide to recognizing the disruption and a guide to wellness that any individual can utilize during the pandemic (SAMHSA, 2020). A summary of the guide is included in a later section of this article. To some, occupational therapy practitioners already have educational and experiential skills to navigate the pandemic, but also in helping those who need assistance in reconstructing or adapting their life after occupational disruption (Hammell, 2020). Disruptions experienced by students, healthcare providers, businesses, educational institutions have flooded social media and personal conversations or meetings (DWNews, 2020, Carrasco, 2020b). The next section will provide some useful strategies that can be helpful in navigating professional and personal engagement in living in the midst of a pandemic.
Action Plan, Recommendations
This section provides strategies available from selected sources or shared by colleagues and students. Hopefully, they will be applicable and helpful to navigate professional and personal engagement in living during a pandemic. As mentioned in an earlier section, Hammell (2020) recognized the advantage occupational therapists from their professional training that arms them with skills needed to respond to the demands of a global pandemic. Supplemented by the experience derived from witnessing and helping clients in reconstructing their occupational disruption after a life altering event, while supported by evidence derived from the literature, occupational therapists can act on their strong belief in the power of doing. This is based on the core of belief in occupation passed on from generation to generation of occupational therapy professionals since its inception over 100 years ago. In its response to the pandemic, AOTA (2020c) published decision guides and case samples for practitioners and administrators in solving problems and surmounting challenges of delivering quality care in a safe, healthy environment for everyone. Conversations with graduate student cohorts shared common themes of disruption in their occupation as future health care workers accompanied by shared experiences of emotional support and common strategies in striking a livable balance in an otherwise altered life student routines and habits (Carrasco, 2020). Life for the quarantined students included feelings of isolation, loss of sense of time and accomplishment, so that days seemed to blend into each other. On the other hand, the shared experiences included feelings of appreciation of support provided, as well as the inner strength required to respond adaptively to changes over which admittedly, they did not have any control
SAMHSA (2020) promoted the concept of life balance as essential in maintaining wellness, recognizing that similar to the occupational science construct of occupational balance, its meaning and contribution to a life balance is influenced by individual differences, culture, situations, and several other variables. This is also consistent with the meaning of “occupation” put forward by the WFOT that is inclusive of those that humans have to do, choose to do, and are required to do in order to occupy their time and place as occupational beings (WFOT (2020). SAMHSA’s message is for occupational therapists and the public to recognize that as health professionals we need to re-balance ourselves from time to time, and to give ourselves permission to take the control of our routines, habits in order to preserve the roles and rituals that we have become accustomed in order to stay healthy and maintain human and non-human relationships as well as communities and populations. The step-by-step guide to wellness and to create a healthier life from SAMHSA includes recognition of the following: embracing or providing support from/to others; respecting our self-defined routines and habits as a metric in performing our roles and routines in our milieu; find time to new and already used wellness practices such as meditation, mindfulness activities, video or audio visits, among other; seek out new meaningful engagements such as a virtual cooking club, weekly family Facetime visits, Zoom cocktail parties, etc.; implement a rest and restoration protocol that includes sleep hygiene; design a new or a novel physical wellness plan; take an active part in preparing healthy food, including a visit to USDA’s Choose My Plate or Food Pyramid; if a smoker, try out tools to help reduce or altogether quit smoking. These are just some of the SAMHSA recommendations to maintain wellness during the pandemic. Find more information here.
Summary & Reflection
This is the first in a series of two articles on engaging in living amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism. I used a methodology of collecting materials that is consistent with the purpose of the article, which is to contextualize constructs from scholarly articles surrounding COVID-19 and social injustice. By including a contextualization component, I strived to attach authentic, ideal and full meaning to the human experience by pulling from shared human experiences found in the larger, yet intimate settings and backgrounds from the lives of students, health care workers, scholars and educators. (Miller & Dingwall, 1997; Mckee, 2020; and Carrasco, 2020). This allowed for a common or alternative, albeit creative way of engaging in living during a pandemic and social injustice, sprinkled with messages and strategies of hope and resilience. The second article in the series will use a similar methodology of contextualization.
Hopefully, the two articles will provide a way of using information from scholarly and popular sources in carving adaptation strategies in navigating new challenges that surround pandemic survival and open tough conversations about systemic racism. Maybe, the conversations will translate initial responses of grief and anger to forge a collective conscience about systemic racism and impetus for social change.
References
AOTA. (1994). Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy. Third Edition. 48, 1055-1059. AOTA. AOTA. (2020a). Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process 4th Edition Review. AOTA. Retrieved 07.10.2020from AOTA. (2020b). The American Occupational Therapy Association advisory opinion for the Ethics Commission: An ethical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. AOTA. Retrieved 07.03.2020 from AOTA (2020c) COVID-19 Decision Guides. AOTA. Retrieved 07.03.2020 from ACOTE (2020d) COVID-19 Announcement, ACOTE Statement. ACOTE. Retrieved on 07.08.2020 from Bedford T, Greninger AL, Roychoudhury P, et al. (2020). Cryptic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Washington State. Preprint. medRxiv. Retrieved 07.05.2020 from Brunzeck N & Duzel, E. (2006). Absolute coding of stimulus novelty in the human substantia nigra/VTA. Neuron, 51: 369-379. Doi: 10.1061/j. neuron.2006.06.021 Carrasco, R. C. (2019). Unleashing the synergy between occupational science and occupational therapy. FOCUS Quarterly. Spring 2019. 21-24 Carrasco, R. C. (2020). Living amidst a pandemic and social injustice. [OTDialogue Minutes, 06.11.2020] Dean, N. (2017) The importance of novelty. Retrieved 06.19.2020 from DWNews. (2020). How the coronavirus pandemic affects the world’s working poor | COVID-19 Special. April 10, 2020. Retrieved 07.12.2020 from Fernandez, M. & Burch, A. (2020). George Floyd, from ‘I want to touch the world’ to ‘I can’t breathe.’New York Times. Retrieved 06.26.2020 from McKee, K. (2020). OT Month Spotlight: How One OT is Giving Back Amid COVID-19. WebPT. Retrieved 07.11.2020 from Meyer A. (1977). The philosophy of occupation therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 31: 639-42. Miller, G. & Dingwall, R. (1997) Network analysis and qualitative research: A method of contextualization. In Miler, G. & Dingwall, R. (Eds.). (1997) Context and method in qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA. Sage Peters, C., & Reed, K. (2006). Occupational therapy values and beliefs, part II: The great depression and war years. OT Practice, 11(18), 17–22. SAMHSA. (2020). Creating a healthier life: A step-by-step guide to wellness. Retrieved 07.03.2020 from. Soucheray, S. (2020). COVID-19 cases among US young adults spike. University of Minnesota. Retrieved 06.26.2020 from Wagman, P., Håkansson, C., & Björklund, Anita (2012) Occupational balance as used in occupational therapy: A concept analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 19:4, 322-327, DOI: 10.3109/11038128.2011.596219 WHO. (2020). Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak. WHO/2019-nCoV/ MentalHealth/2020.1. WHO. Retrieved 07.03.2020 from WFOT. (2020). Public Statement - Occupational Therapy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
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