Skills for Practice in Occupational Therapy - Report Example

Occupational Therapy Explore and apply principles of occupational therapy for individuals with specialistneeds Occupational therapy is concerned with assisting those with various physical and mental disabilities to be able to undertake various activities in life as with healthy people or the same way they used to function before the disability (if it is not inborn). Occupational therapists achieve this through various forms of therapy depending with the disability. For people with special disabilities, the therapies are a bit different as some have mental inabilities (Peloquin, and Punwar, 2000, pg 65). One principle of occupational therapy is to ensure the patient develops performance skills. These include motor skills where especially children with learning disabilities like autism are taught how to move and make use of fingers and hands to perform tasks and also to communicate. Those patients are also taught coordination movements and especially coordinating their words and their actions. This is applied to people with mental health problems who most of the times have cognitive dissonance. They are taught that so that they can be able to function in the same environment with other healthy individuals (Creek, et al, 2008, pg 17). The other principle applied by occupational therapists is development of self advancement skills which will enable the patient to be independent after they are through with the therapy. In the case of children with learning disabilities, after therapy they can be able to perform tasks such as drawing and other handicraft work which they have been taught. The skills also include social skills of how to interact with other individuals and even participate in conversations with them. This is especially so for those with mental illness and learning disabilities who do not know how to interact well with others. The other principle is self enhancement. This is to enable the patients have personal accomplishments. Several different types of therapies are used to enable this. Such include handicrafts like carpentry, weaving, sewing among others which can enable them continue with their life well after the occupational therapy. Evaluate the need for safe practice and risk management within professional practice. Safe practice is needed in professional practice to avoid accidents that may lead to injury or even death of a patient. This is especially so in occupational therapy craft activities like drawing, knitting among others where sharp objects are involved which may cause harm to the patient. Patients with mental health disabilities whose therapy is painting or drawing are especially at risk as some may not be able to know what drawing or painting tools may cause accidents. The occupational therapists and care givers should always be present to observe them in order to ensure safe practice (Jcr, 2008, pg 3). There is need for risk management to be taught and effectively used in some therapies used by occupational therapists. One therapy used for children with learning disabilities like autism is the use of animals which calm the children and they relate with better than with humans. Some of the animals used can cause a great risk to those children. The animals used include horses and dolphins which may cause harm or risk the health of the children. The occupational therapists should be informed on such issues so as to avert the risks. Safe practice and risk management is also needed so as to ensure that the patients in an institution are comfortable and in good health to facilitate their occupational therapy. Patients need constant feeling of security in all the activities they are involving in so as to develop confidence with their recovery and even learning. If any unsafe practice like unsafe therapy equipment cause harm to a patient and the rest happen to see, they may refuse to use the equipment in future. This may even severe hinder the progress they had already made. For example children with learning disabilities like comfort and security and not feeling judged for what they do and if this is breached by a therapist, they will retreat back to not trusting anyone and not making an effort to learn (Duncan, and Lorenzo, 2006, pg 81). Evaluate principles, guidelines and strategies that will equip the student for professional practice One principle for professional practice is confidentiality. This is in line with all that the client tells or does. The only exception is when there is potential harm to the client or others based on what the client says that is when the confidentiality can be breached. In therapy for example the only other time patient-therapist confidentiality can be breached is if referral is needed for the patient and hence all the information pertaining to the patient is revealed (http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Ethics/39880.aspx). Another guideline for students is seeking informed consent from the client or clients next of keen for any procedure needed to be undertaken for the patient. This is necessary to avoid legal implications like being sued if anything goes wrong. For occupational therapists, they need informed consent from the patients before involving them in activity therapies like sports or with animals. The consent has to be given after explanation of the procedure has been outlined in a language understood by all the parties present and especially the patient. The next strategy for professional practice to equip students with is ensuring that they protect their clients from any physical or psychological harm (beneficence and non maleficence). This include being careful with the language used when addressing the client. Stereotypical remarks or connotations which may cause psychological harm to the patient should be avoided. In occupational therapy, words used to refer to clients should be examined carefully before being used. In therapy for special needs people and especially those with mental heath problems or those with learning disabilities, the therapist should mind how he or she refers to such individuals. Physical harm can be avoided by safety practices and risk management measures. Consider the range of appropriate therapeutic creative activities relevant to the different specialist client groups One therapeutic creative activity for children with learning disorders is painting and drawing. This is deemed therapeutic as the children who cannot communicate well with other people or express themselves well can be able to do that using the drawings or paintings. They can be able to relay information on what they like or dislike and what they are interested in. Frustrations brought about by thinking they are being judged or made fun off can be released through the drawings they make. Therapy should therefore focus on this area and start teaching the children important life skills through the drawings or paintings (Soderback, 2009, pg 407). Another therapeutic activity is horticulture therapy. This is the use of nature as away of therapy. It is useful for individuals with mental health problems who do not interact well with other healthy individuals and they therefore feel at peace with nature which does not need to ask them question hence aids in their recovery. The peace and quiet offered by nature is a good way for patients with special needs to start developing cognition and practicing on their speech as only nature is present to criticise or judge them. Leisure activities like sports and listening to slow soothing music is another therapy utilized by occupational therapist that involves art and creativity. Sports offer a break from other intensive therapies and also act as a channel to release the excessive anger and frustrations individuals in occupational therapy usually harbour. Sports are also a good way to develop and perfect social skills as individuals interact and share or just interrelate well without conflict arising. This is therefore highly recommended for institutions offering occupational therapy. Evaluate the use of purposeful occupation and activity within the specialist areas Purposeful occupation and activity is where the therapy offered to each patient with special need in occupational therapy is aimed at addressing the special needs and requirements of the individual with the goal of enabling that person lead a meaningful life in the community. This includes teaching them basic skills they need like shopping, cleaning and washing. This is useful so that those individuals learn to manage on their own without depending excessively on other people. The use of purposeful occupation is in order to perfect the individual’s skills and abilities in one area or occupation where they seem to be interested in and hence build on that. This is necessary because these are patients with special needs like mental health problems or learning disabilities and therefore they cannot be able to perform multiple functions. Teaching them only one thing that they need to do to support them in life or provide livelihood for them is therefore the best approach (Locke, et al 2008, pg 152). Since many of these people have been exposed to art and crafts, the one that interested that person the most and where the person performs well is what is concentrated on and the rest left out. Purposeful occupation and activity is useful because it ensures that the therapist has specific goals on how to deal with each patient they have which are structured according to the different disability the patients have (Fawcett, 2007, pg 361). This is usually effective where the therapist has to deal with individuals with diverse requirements and therefore needs to have goals for each patient. The goals act as a plan of action for the therapists which leads to each patient being offered therapy necessary for their recovery and specifically to help them be independent in future. Analyse Occupational Therapist skills relevant to creative activities. There are many creative activities present in occupational therapy useful for different patients who have different needs. The occupational therapists therefore need to have these skills in order to effectively cater for the needs of these individuals and especially those with special needs. Some of those skills include horse riding, pottery, basketry, weaving, sports person (athlete, footballer, coach, swimmer among others), be an artist and have knowledge on nature. An occupational therapist dealing with children or even adults with learning disabilities needs to have skills in horse riding or dolphin handling and also be an artist or have artistry skills like drawing and painting. This is necessary because this is one way of ensuring these individuals learn life skills and also ho to express themselves or their thoughts clearly and coherently. Most people with learning disabilities are able to relate well to animals and even develop their speech by talking to animals like horses and dolphins (Duncan, 2008, pg 77). The therapist needs to be present to ensure the animal is tame to avoid accidents and also for safety of the patient (when using paining brushes or drawing pencils). Sports are leisure useful for individuals with special needs to develop social skills and also to learn speech and other life skills (Meyers, 2010, pg 131). The occupational therapist involved with such individuals needs to therefore be competent in several sports activities in order to act as their coach and also prevent them from harming themselves during the sports sessions. Sports also require the therapist to be physically fit as the patients due to excess excitement may become hyperactive and hence needs to be restrained to avoid self-inflicted injuries while in that state. The therapist may need to hold the patient till he/she calms down which required much energy. References 2011, Web, http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Ethics/39880.aspx, Retrieved 15th December Creek, J et al, (2008), Occupational Therapy and Mental Health, California: Elsevier Health Sciences. Duncan, E, (2008), Skills for Practice in Occupational Therapy, London: Churchill-Livingston. Duncan, M, and Lorenzo, T, (2006), Practice and service learning in occupational therapy: enhancing potential in context, San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Fawcett, A, (2007), Principles of assessment and outcome measurement for occupational therapists and physiotherapists: theory, skills and application, San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Jcr, (2008), Medical Team Training: Strategies for Improving Patient Care and Communication, Illinois: Joint Commission Resources. Locke, C, et al (2008), Occupational Therapy for People with Learning Disabilities: A Practical Guide, London: Churchill-Livingston. Meyers, S, (2010), Community Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Guide to Serving the Community, London: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Peloquin, S, and Punwar, A, (2000), Occupational Therapy: Principles and Practice, Pennsylvania: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Soderback, I, (2009), International Handbook of Occupational Therapy Interventions, London: Springer. Read More