Wellness & Health Promotion is Center Stage

Wellness and health promotion efforts appear to be at center stage, as the society becomes more aware about the burden of chronic diseases over the lifespan. This knowledge fosters the understanding that lifestyle choices can have a significant impact on prevalence of chronic diseases (Snelling, 2014). The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has identified Health and Wellness as a key practice area in the 21st century (AOTA, 2015). According to AOTA, “factors that will drive an increasing need for wellness-related services are based on an accumulating body of scientific evidence that an individual’s health is directly related to physical as well as emotional well-being” (AOTA, 2015) . To support practice, AOTA provides extensive resources for Health and Wellness practice embedded within occupational therapy, including evidence-based literature, technology applications to support domains of health, and professional development opportunities.

Poised for Success

(First in a series of articles describing FOTA’s Leadership Development Program)

 
FOTA has a long history of being a leader in occupational therapy state associations and innovations as one of the early established state associations and licensure. The Leadership Development Initiative emerged from passionate members approaching elected leadership of Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA). These members had been involved with American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Emerging Leaders and Emerging Managers programs with positive professional outcomes. The question was raised if something similar would be a match for the membership needs and the FOTA strategic plan. A small committee was formed to determine if mentoring or leadership was the direction that would fit the current members needs, marketing, and leadership efforts. Compromise and constant collaboration to make sure sequential steps were followed to gather information and align with evidence based content to guide the successive years.

OT ROLE IN PATIENTS WITH HEART FAILURE

Statistics of number of people with heart failure 5.7 million people have heart failure with 670,000 incident cases each year (Go et al., 2013). Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the most frequent diagnosis for hospital admissions and readmissions (Miniño, Murphy, Xu, & Kochanek, 2011). 25% of patients with heart failure are readmitted in 30 days (Desai & Stevenson, 2012). Evidence suggests that many hospital readmissions are related to low functional status and reduced physiological capacity (Arbaje et al., 2008).

It's Really A Thing 

Mirtha M. Whaley, PhD, MPH, OTR/L, SIS Chair, Mental Health

 Oh, My Aching Neck!

  Regina Bonynge, OTR/L CWEC, CEAS Work Programs Special Interest Chair

Many employees are saying these exact words thinking it is the physical environment that is contributing to their aches and pains. An ergonomic assessment is requested and the following is uncovered:

The Executive Order and OT Implications: The Rising Suicide Rate in Baby Boomers and the Role of Occupational Therapy

Anjali K. Parti, OTD, OTR/L Gerontology Co-Chair Annette Bullard, COTA, Gerontology Co-Chair

At the Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA) conference in 2018, Anjali Parti and Annette Bullard hosted a Conversations that Matter that was very well attended, many OT practitioners voiced an interest in doing more for mental health in the VA setting. We have decided to re-visit this important topic due to President Trump’s recent Executive Order signed March 5, 2019. Here is some information on the order and what the order entails:

AND THE AWARD GOES TO….

 This #FOTA19 , as part of our yearly conference, we want to recognize all of our FOTA  members that have made remarkable contributions to our field of Occupational Therapy. There is just one thing ... we need your help to make this happen! We encourage you to nominate individuals that you feel have set the bar and exemplify the core values and ethics of Occupational Therapy. This is the opportunity to acknowledge, celebrate, and show our shared passion and appreciation with members of our community! Help us continue to celebrate and empassion our members by taking a moment to complete the nomination form. Awards will be released during the FOTA Annual Membership Meeting to be held during the FOTA annual conference.

Congratulations to our 36 New Leadership Program Participants, June 8th, 2019 

Leadership Development Program Event

FOTA Leadership Bulletin 2/28/2019

 Hello all, here is an update bulletin based on the minutes of our recent FOTA board meeting Conference call in February.

From the President

Brent Cheyne, OTD, OTR/L

Welcome to a report to keep you informed on past and upcoming legislative issues. Part of you membership dues go to ensure that FOTA as skilled advisement from our lobbying firm on strategies to promote and protect OT in Florida.  FOTA relies on membership support to advocate successfully. More members are needed to increase our ability to influence change.

Guest Blog: Making the Case for Membership

Why Membership Matters by Michael J Steinhauer, OTR, MPH, FAOTA

FOTA and AOTA members know how valuable their associations dollars are to represent their needs with legislators, regulators, accrediting bodies, and external threats to our profession. Both state and national associations address a wide array of topics that impacts on EVERY practice setting, EVERY demographic, EVERY insurance provisions, and EVERY diagnostic category that occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants see in their work every day. WOW! This article in part demonstrates the value of your association dollars and calls on every state and national association member to ACTIVELY recruit others in our profession to join.

Think for a moment: do you have auto insurance? Do you have health insurance? Do you insure your possessions in your homes with homeowners or renters insurance? If you own a home you pay for mortgage insurance, right? Do you have individual malpractice liability insurance? Do you have workman’s compensation insurance privately or through your employer? Do you pay for travel insurance sometimes? Do you have life insurance? Do you have flood insurance? Some people have death expenses insurance. Some people have pet health insurance. Right??

From the President: Summer 2018 -- From the FOCUS Newsletter

Hello and Happy Summer!

Pictured Left to Right are our voting board members and President-elect. Cathy Peirce, Ric Carrasco, Douglene Jackson, Tia Hughes, Kathy Frahm, Brent Cheyne, Elise Bloch, Debbie Misrahi, and Kelly Uanino.

President’s Annual Report to the Board

June, 16, 2018

Brent Cheyne, OTD, OTR/L

Invitation to Take Action and Send in Concerns

FOTA representatives had a sit-down question-and-answer session with Florida Medicaid officials in March of 2018. I called in by phone. We had several questions about Medicaid policies regarding both pediatric and adult care issues. After all was said and done, the most striking comment we had to take away from our informative and respectful meeting was this:

“We just haven’t had many complaints about Occupational Therapy and Medicaid….you need to encourage your clients and practitioners to contact Medicaid to raise their concerns. When we have more complaints filed, we can look at our policies and consider what changes need to be made.”

Celebrating National Children's Mental Health Day: May 10th, 2018

 Join the FOTA leadership and membership in acknowledging National Children's Mental Health Day, May 10th, 2018. In service of our FOTA vision to be the respected authority on occupational therapy’s contribution to health and well-being in Florida, we have assembled a humble offering of clinician's resources and supportive information for OTs from across the state to use in service to children's mental health. Our Ad Hoc Committee on School Mental Health is developing further programming to offer to our members in the future, and we are developing policy statements to share with our advocacy team and our Florida legislators. 

FOTA believes in the potential for OT practitioners to impact child well being and provide new and innovative programs to meet the needs of our students in schools across Florida. We believe in the preventative model, nurturing social and emotional learning, and skills for emotional regulation, social skills, and collaborative learning -- all through occupation-based activities. Please take time today, and everyday to nurture the wellness of children in your life and in your practice. See our resources below --an assemblage that is still a work in development.  Take Care!

From The President: Spring FOCUS 2018

Hello FOTA Members! And welcome visitors to the blog, we hope you join us in FOTA, as an OT You Belong!

Guest Blog: On Parkland