Aging & Sexual Health

The opportunity to develop and maintain intimacy in later life can be challenging.  Factors that can affect this can be due to declining health, increased incidence in of diseases that affect physical and psychological function, and habits such as smoking and alcohol.  While there is a decline in activity as individuals age, the majority of healthy people with partners wish to remain sexual into later years in life.  It is important that we as OTs should recognize this as a valued activity for older adults and provide interventions to support sexual activity as appropriate.

Interventions such as activity pacing, energy conservation, joint protection, range of motion, and pain management were mentioned in the sexual health lecture.  Group sessions can be held for clients with chronic diseases on activity pacing and energy conservation.  Educating individuals on planning sexual activities for a time of day or day of the week when energy levels are at their highest can be very important and helpful for those with fatigue and weakness. Individual sessions on positioning can also be held for a client who has undergone a total hip replacement or any other major surgery that limits or restricts range of motion.  

Insider Scoop: OT with At-risk Youth

I had the opportunity to communicate with Hannah Phillips prior to her inservice presentation to gain more knowledge on the role of OT with at-risk youth. I chose to write a reflection on this topic because it is relevant to my first level II rotation, which is in pediatrics, but also because adverse experiences in childhood can impact an individuals across the lifespan. I was able to gain a clear definition of "at-risk" youth, why it matters, what OTs can do, and a hand full of assessments and resources.

Youth at-risk is a child or adolescent who faces extreme threats to successful transition into adulthood. A few examples include, involved in drugs/alcohol, neglect, mental illness, & sexually abused. Hannah mentions that in children, exposure to ACEs or childhood trauma can affect brain development and hormonal and immune systems, which can cause behavioral problems, learning difficulties, and physical health issues. In adults, exposure to ACEs dramatically increases the likelihood of 7 out of 10 leading adult causes of death.

As OT practitioners, screening for ACEs in children as early as possible and providing children and their families with the support services they need is a critical step to prevent and undo the existing and future harm to children’s brains and bodies caused by toxic stress. There are some existing programs in Memphis as well as around the United States for those who have had these experiences.  For example, Youth Villages is a program that provides help for children and young people across the United States who face a wide range of emotional, mental and behavioral problems.  Their goals is to improve these individuals' long-term success.

Learning and looking deeper into this topic has better prepared me for my upcoming fieldwork rotation at Kenny Rogers Children Center in Sikeston, MO.  I will definitely take what I have learned from Hannah about at-risk youth and ACEs with me and now feel more prepared if I were to find myself in a situation similar to this!
 

Driving & Community Mobility

Accessing a patient is very important especially when it has to do with the most complicated IADL, driving.  Majority of the patients that are sent to a driving training program are told that they cannot drive anymore.  As occupational therapists, our job is to help individuals gain their quality of life back as best we can.  Therefore, we must think outside of the box and think of what they need when it comes to driving.  The three purposes of a driving program are assess individuals for safety and potential to drive, assess for equipment, and train individuals in the use of AE and/or compensation techniques for driving.  Having a basic knowledge on common diagnoses is also very important.  Common diagnoses that are seen in driving programs are stroke, TBI, SCI, amputations, alzheimers, MS, CP, and visual impairments.  Driving is a multi-task, multi-stimulus IADL.  An individual must be able to shift attention from one task to another and be able to come back to the correct point of sequence in the task.  There are so many things that you are doing while your driving and one needs many skills intact to do it safely.  Occupational therapist identify interventions to driving and community mobility and safety.  Interventions can range from driving education held in a group course all the way to behind the wheel assessment with an individual.  Behind the wheel training be used to vehicle control skills and/or train patients how to use adaptive equipment.