In Their Own Words: Clients Write About OT

In this entry I am going to compare/contrast two blog entries written by clients regarding their experience receiving occupational therapy. Here we go!

Entry # 1: “I Love Occupational Therapists”

In her blog, “After Cancer, Now What?”, Kate Burton, a breast cancer survivor, writes about her experience receiving OT to treat bilateral De Quervains tenosynovitis. The De Quervains was caused by Femara, an adjuvant therapy drug for breast cancer. As a result of the condition, “it was absolutely awful holding a fork, pulling up a zipper, writing with a pen or typing was excruciatingly painful”.

In an effort to treat her De Quervains, poor misguided Kate saw an orthopedist, then a chiropractor. After undergoing unsuccessful treatments at the hands of the aforementioned professionals, Kate writes that one day she “was at a conference one day wearing the terrible sexy wrist braces when someone asked me if I had seen an occupational therapist”.

Luckily, Kate took this wise individual’s advice and sought the services of an occupational therapy. Kate’s OT treatment consisted of six months of electrophoresis, therapeutic exercises, “some pain and more patience”.  The end result of treatment is reported as functional use of her hands. Kate writes,  “I am crocheting a baby blanket for a colleague, who happens to be an occupational therapist as well. A year ago I never thought I would be able to crochet again and thanks to some great OT’s here’s part of my work” (picture of Kate’s work to right).

Things I Like About This Blog Entry:
1. Kate doesn’t claim that OT “cured” her– rather she highlights the functional gains she made in activities of daily living and meaningful leisure pursuits.

2. The title of the blog entry says it all

Areas For Growth:
1. Kate ends her blog post with a link for all those who “want more information about Occupational Therapy”. The link connects readers to the AOTA homepage BUT the hyperlink in the blog entry is cited as the American Orthopedic Therapy Association. Tsk tsk….

2. A brief definition of OT would make the entry more educational and meaningful for readers who, like Kate, would never think to ask their doctor for a referral to an occupational therapist.

Blog Entry’s Relationship to Advocacy:
1. The entry highlights the lack of public knowledge concerning the myriad conditions and performance limitations that OT can skillfully address. Kate was lucky- she happened to run into someone who knew about OT. Without advocating for OT – through public events, political advocacy efforts, healthcare workplace education, etc – people like Kate will continue to seek the services of other healthcare professionals for problems that can be best addressed by occupational therapy.

Entry #2: “I’ve never liked sandwich holders. And you can tell my OT I said that”

This blog entry describes the frustrations that Tiffiny, a woman with C6 incomplete quadriplegia, encountered while receiving occupational therapy as a teenager.

While it is implied that Tiffiny has many points of contention with occupational therapy (“It’s probably the most annoying type of therapy I had to go though”), the post uses a specific piece of adaptive equipment – the Quad-Quip Sandwich Holder – as an example of the inadequacies of such equipment… and OT in general.

Tiffiny describes the Sandwich Holder’s technical flaws and the stigma that can accompany use of adaptive equipment: “It drove me crazy. I felt like a weirdo using it in public and yes, it’s as awkward as it looks. And don’t put a heavy sandwich in there because if you do, it’ll topple out”. These are very valid points, and ones that should have been addressed by the occupational therapist who issued Tiffiny the Sandwich Holder.

Tiffiny writes that despite her frustrations with the Sandwich Holder,  “I was even told (and obediently did) to carry my Quad-Quip around in my backpack (which I also don’t have anymore), just in case a sandwich presented itself to my mouth sometime in my daily activities.”. Tiffiny’s statement exemplifies a (true? false?) cliche that I was specifically told in my Physical Disabilities class to avoid: all OTs LOVE adaptive equipment and have a tendency to push equipment on all of their clients, regardless of whether the individual client has expressed the interest or buy-in necessary to actually use the equipment in daily life.

Tiffiny believes that adaptive equipment is actually a hindrance to independence, and she eventually revealed her true feelings about the Sandwich Holder to her OT. The blog entry concludes: “You’re probably wondering the solution I came up with. It’s easy. I just don’t eat sandwiches anymore.”

Things I Like About This Blog Entry:
1. If I was an individual receiving OT, or any therapy for that matter, this article would inspire me to advocate for myself by letting my therapists know what therapeutic activities/equipment/techniques are and are not working for me.

2. The entry provides OT practitioners with a good reminder of the importance of client-centered therapy, and the need to spend time really delving into clients’ inner thoughts and feelings about their individualized plan of care.

3. The entry provides a link to the Wikipedia article on OT. Personally, I have issues with the OT Wikipedia article, but it’s a good start.

Areas For Growth:
1. When reviewing Kate Burton’s blog post I mentioned the benefits of including a definition of occupational therapy in a blog post about OT…..perhaps I should have qualified that statement with the caveat, an ACCURATE definition of OT. Here’s Tiffiny’s definition: “OT is physical therapy for the arms and hands (dexterity), and therapists in this field are perhaps best-known for helping people with paralysis (from stroke victims to people with quadriplegia, like myself) re-learn how to do a myriad of things, from feeding themselves to buttoning buttons.” While I appreciate the definition’s emphasis on meaningful occupations, the comparison to PT is just terrible (can you imagine someone saying, “PT is like OT for the legs”???), and the scope of clientele presented is very limited.

2. The article leaves me with many questions: What other assistive technology did Tiffiny’s OT suggest, and how did that pan out? What else did Tiffiny do in OT that made it “the most annoying type of therapy” she had to go through? What, if anything, did Tiffiny actually gain from OT? Etc etc etc. Tell me more, Tiffiny!

Blog Entry’s Relationship to Advocacy:
1. When describing OT to clients, avoid comparing OT to PT unless absolutely necessary!

2. Encourage your clients to advocate for themselves during therapy sessions, and take an active role in their plan of care.

3. In today’s world you never know when you will treat a client in possession of a personal blog who plans to record their experience with OT for all the world to see. Give every client a reason to brag about OT!