other health professions

I had the opportunity to sit in on an OT and speech session for one of my patients. Prior to this opportunity I had an idea of what the other health professions did but what the treatment sessions included. During her speech therapist, it was interesting to observe the strategies used to get my patient to stop slurring her speech.

At OT, my patient's goal was to get her (R) arm more functional. OT on Fridays are apparently fun days so they baked brownies. It was interesting watching my patient cut up the butter, stir the mixture together, etc. During our sessions I have tried to incorporate UL ex's but this OT session was probably more beneficial. Without the patient even realizing it, she was using that arm quite a bit. The OT was telling me afterwards that once her trunk control improves (PT's role), she would be able to do a lot more of the activities in standing. In PT, our progress will be greatly improved once the patient's (R) UL becomes more functional. It will open a lot more options.

This experience has given me a greater appreciation of what the other health professions do. I encourage all of you to sit in on at least one sessioin. We all see my patients everyday and our goals all depend on how they progress in the other health professions, especially in OT, and yet we have so little idea as to what they are doing. It was made me think that maybe we should open the communication lines a little more and discuss what they are focusing on in their treatment sessions.