Occupational therapy and physiotherapy

Many people don’t understand the difference between the two professions, so when an article such as Occupational therapy is an effective way of improving the daily life of stroke patients
appears, it can raise questions.

Even after I’d graduated from nursing, I wasn’t entirely clear on the difference between the two because I’d had so little exposure to them. It was only when I worked in a school for physically handicapped and/or deaf children that I learned what each did.

The easy explanation is that the physiotherapists focus on getting people moving, working on their gross motor function skills. They help people learn how to walk again, maintain their balance, use walking aids, and as well as helping them with range of motion of the joints. Physiotherapists also work on reducing pain and inflammation of certain types of injuries. Occupational therapists work on the finer motor things that allow people to regain their independence, such as helping you dress yourself, cook, or work, for example. They figure out adaptations to make these possible if adaptations are needed. OTs can work with children, the disabled, or the elderly, as can physiotherapists.

Of course, I won’t/can’t presume to speak for anyone in those two fields so I will keep my explanation at that basic level, but their work does involve a lot more than just what I wrote. Although their clients may be referred to them by medical doctors, the therapists need to assess their clients, make up treatment plans, and then follow through on the, adapting them as needed. They often have to work with families to help with special adaptations, as needed, or to help them learn specific types of exercises and therapies so that treatment can continue at home.

Both are very interesting fields and can lead in many directions.

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Popping up on Google a lot

A quick Sunday morning post.

I've found that my blog is definitely picking up in hits. Although I have a few regular readers, I get lots of readers from Google hits. It's interesting to see what word string have brought people to my blog.

Using StatCounter, I can see where people come from and get an idea of how many hits per day I'm getting. I use the free version so I have to keep clearing my stats, but it's all I need for now. Anyway, sometimes, I'll go back and do a Google search for the ones I see on my stats page and I'm amazed at how high my blog is - almost always in the first page and then, at least half-way up, if not higher.

I hope that people who find their way here through these searches like what they see and get something out of it. I have fun writing the posts and do love getting emails and comments about my posts.

And that's it for an early Sunday morning. See you tomorrow.

Autism

Autism is still a mystery to the medical community. And, as with most disorders, early intervention is the best bet to helping a child with autism. The problem is recognizing it, having it recognized by the healthcare professional, and then finding the right help for the child.

There’s a huge spectrum among autism; you can have a very high functioning child with autistic tendencies or a child who can barely hold his or her own – and anything in between.

The article about the gut/brain connection is good information but will likely have a lot of people who live with and love autistic children saying “duh…we knew that a long time ago.”

I know a couple of families who have autistic children and both families have adapted their children’s diet. They both find a big difference in their behaviour. One family has their son on a gluten-free celiac disease diet. As long as he is following it, he does quite well. If he goes off it, everyone knows. The other family has eliminated as many preservatives and additives as possible, as well as sugary foods, and they, too, find a big difference.

So many of these autistic children are so bright and could have a great future. Thank goodness we’ve gotten past the days of “it’s the mother’s fault,” but until we know what does cause it, many mothers and fathers do wonder if they did anything to cause it.

News for Today (and lots of it!):
Scientists make gut-brain connection to autism
Study fails to link vaccines to brain problems

Physician-assisted suicide

Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, the only state in the United States that allows it. In the Netherlands, it has been legal since 2002, but practiced since the 1980s.

As a nurse who has worked in palliative care and as the owner of two dogs that died of cancer, I have my opinions on the topic. Although it devastated me to lose my two dogs, Rox, a golden retriever, and most recently, Oscar, our greyhound, I knew that I was doing the right thing for them. They were suffering and it was the only thing I could do for them.

When I worked in palliative care, sometimes family members would ask me if there was any way we could help their loved one through the dying process. While most accepted the answer ("no"), some family members and friends got very angry. Their argument was always that we can put our family pets out of misery but we can’t to our loved ones.

I understand that frustration. I remember looking after patients who were just hanging on and suffering for what seemed like forever. I have to say though, that I never had a patient ask me that question – ever.

Am I for physician-assisted suicide? I’m not against it. I feel that if someone is terminally ill and determined to end his or her own life, it would be most humane to allow it to be done properly and with dignity, rather than furtively and with friends or family who are then possibly caught in a legal web.

According to an article from the University of Utah, that some of the fears of allowing physician-assisted suicide were unfounded. The researchers found that not having insurance (in the US) did not increase the number of suicides, nor did economic status, race, ethnicity, or education.

Not surprising to the researchers was the fact that there were more patients with AIDS who opted for physician-assisted suicide than with any other illness: “We’ve known for a long time from studies elsewhere that rates of assisted dying outside the law were much higher in people with AIDS,” particularly in areas with large, supportive gay communities such as San Francisco says the study’s lead author, bioethicist Margaret Battin in the article. Dr. Battin is a University of Utah distinguished professor of philosophy and adjunct professor of internal medicine. “It’s not a surprise to find high rates where physician-assisted dying is legal.”

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