Tutorial Eight- Assistive technology

Assistive Technology defination
"Assistive technology (AT) is a generic term that includes assistive, adpative and rehabilative devices for people with disablilities and includes the process used in selecting, locating and using them" retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology


This defination to me points out what is done to equipment, which needs to be modified for people with disabilities, who are currently unable to use the the equipement due to their impairment. Adapting equipment ables individuals the ability to interact with technology which best suits their needs. Here is a great youtube clip explaining assistive technology- AT

During this tutorial students were able to explore several types of equipment which had been adapted. So how to choose only one piece of equipment to post on my blog......

Ipad
Here is a youtube clip explaining the ipad- Ipad
The Ipad costs around $799 (New Zealand). Here is a great article, discusing the importance for a young boy with a disability using the ipad- Ipad opens world to a disabled boy

I could not finish this post off without showing you all the wonders of the Dynamic support Arm.

Dynamic Arm Support

I first came across this technology while recently attending an equipment dislay at the local stadium. While trying it out I was amazed, it was as if my arm was floating. It works by eliminating gravity and enabled an individual with little musular strength to be engage in daily activities such as eating, drinking, communication and play. Here is a great clip showing what it can do- Arm support. I am unsure exactly how much they cost, my guess is quite a lot.

Tutorial Seven- Occupational Therapy Blogs

Occupational Therapist's (OT) help people move forward in their lives. Whether an individual was born with a condition, suffered a accident, or was simply diagnosised with an on going health issue, OT's help people help themselves in every aspect of daily living, from the occupations we engage in, the environment we surround ourselves in and on a personal level. My objective for this post is to enlighten you all with what goes on in the 'OT world', to give you all an idea of what I will be doing in a couple of years to come.... Fingers crossed.

Blog one: 
What better place to start then with a blog which starts from when this OT was just training. It continues on to see her struggles of getting a job, her excitement when she finally got one, to where she is at now in 2011- ( B ) E ( LO ) N ( G ) , OT


Blog two:
Who ever thought when Wii was introduced to the world, it would be used as part of rehab within OT. Here is a blog which shows just that- Wii-Hab therapy

Blog Three:
Although this next blog is not written by an OT, I believe it still fits the criteria of OT practice. Written from the opinon of a wife having to watch her husband recover from major stroke. This was pacticualar interesting to me as my own Father went through the same rehab many years ago and was the reason I went into OT- Stroke survivor

Blog Four:
As part of this post students were expected to comment on another blog within the course. Here is my link to to Rebecca Jones -Comment

Blog Five:
As I have already stated in eariler posts, technology has come along way over the years. This OT is explores the different types of technology used in OT practice- Gosh thats neat

Tutorial Six- Communities

For around 14 weeks, one day a week I was placed in a rest home which catered not only for elderly, needing full time care but attached to the same facility, was a dementia unit with around 25 patients, which is where i spent my time. I new very little about this disease prior to my placement and on my first session was extremely overwelmed. However by the end of my 14 week period i was very intriged by this disease.

The reason for this blog is to reasearch online communities relating to a choosen topic and due to my fieldwork experience I felt Dememtia was appropriate.

Dementia

Alzheimers New Zealand states that Dementia occurs as a result of physical changes in the structure of the brain. Changes can affect an individuals memory, thinking, behavior, personality and emotion.

The three online communities I have selected are:

1.  Dementia, Life after diagnosis- Facebook group
2.  Dementia thoughts- Blog
3.  Dementia Advocacy and support Network (DASNI)- DASNI - Chat room

Dementia, Life after diagnosis - Facebook

This page was set up for anyone who knows of a family member, a friend or you yourself suffering from dementia. Members are able to talk to other people who are going through the same emotions as you. Within this site members are able to post things such as, youtube clips or simply to explain about their mother going through dementia. It is through these posts which people contribute to the site. An example of what people put on this site is:

 "Paul - I think it's great that you set up this page. My Mum was diagnosed with dementia and it was a 5 year nightmare. Wish I'd have known and understood more about dementia at the time - so the information that is available though this page and our very own Norms is brilliant and will be a great help for many people :-)x"

Dementia thoughts- Blog

'Dementia thoughts' is a blog which the creator states " I began this journal to share my personal experiences as a caregiver. It is my hope and desire to develop a 'communilty' with other caregivers to share advice, restore hope and give encourgement. Please comment or submit a daily tip, your insight, thoughts are welcome". This blog has been on going for a number of years. The creators Grandmother is often used within the posts, as she users her to explain her experiences during caregiving.  Youtube clips or articles relating to dementia are also used. People are welcome to comment on posts and interact with the blogger. Here is an example of what is posted, I have also included a link to this particular post- Truth

When dealing with Alzheimer's and Dementia patients, when does one tell the truth?

Today, since I arrived home from work, Muddear has asked me on numerous occasions... "Where is my baby?" I tried to rationalize with her, but of course it didn't work. I would ask, "Muddear, how old are you?"

"That doesn't matter. Where is my baby?"

"But, it does matter. You are 97 years old, there is no way that you have babies. They are all grown."

"No they are not. Where are my babies?"

A little later, I tried again to rationalize with Muddear as she asked...

"Did somebody take my babies?"

"Of course not Muddear, your babies are adults now."

"No they are not."

"Muddear, tell me something, when did you start having babies?"

"Oh when I was about 79."

"Now Muddear, you know you didn't have babies at 79. That's too old - not just for you, but no one has babies at 79."

It is almost 10:00 p.m. and this issue is still not resolved. She keeps asking us... "Where is my baby?" Should we play along with her? I fear that this would create even more problems.

What do you think?"`


A topic which is often discussed, do you lie or tell the truth. My supervisor at my placement gave me great advice surrounding this debate. She explained that you need to pick the times where it is appropriate to, what she described as telling a 'fib' and there are other situations where you need to address the problem and tell the individual, "your husband is dead". The skill is realising the times you tell the truth and the times where you go along with what they are saying. However I do believe by 'lying' your not harming them but more importantly decreasing the emotional struggles they are already experiencing.

Dementia Advocacy and support Network- DASN

This website is a "world wide organization by and for those diagnosised with dementia, working together to improve our quality of life". This website includes an area where members are able to chat on line and discuss your own experiences, get advice, give advice and above everything be understood by others going through what your going through. It also provides information about dementia . Here is an example of the website

"Our purpose is to promote respect and dignity for persons with dementia, provide a forum for the exchange of information, encourage support mechanisms such as local groups, counselling, and internet linkages, and to advocate for services."

Why people use this site

The general belief for each site is, they have all been created to help, support, and give advice to every one of their members. Whether your a caregiver, just been diagnosised or a family member it is within these sites which you are able to express what your feeling.

Ethical Issues

The only ethical issue I considered was to do with the blog. Does the grandmother know her daughter is discussing her in such a way? Besides this there is nothing I could think about. The facebook page is a page where if you are not a member you are unable to see the post. In many of the communities people are encouraged to take a active role within the site, if you don't want to you don't have to. 

Tutorial five: YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video sharing website, which users can upload and share videos. It has been going since 2005 and is now run by google.

This post will convey a general topic which i am interested in. The topic which i have decided to introduce to you is hockey. I am going to use Youtube clips to build a picture of what hockey is, the skills, the tricks and so on.

Here i go......


I could bore you all with basic skills, how to trap, how to hit, and how to pass but I've decided to show you some interesting clips which i feel represents hockey in an exciting manner.


Hockey has come a long way since it first started, sticks are no longer made of wood, uniforms have trasticly changed and above all its faster. My first clip is about a cructial part of the game... GOAL SCORING!! 





Pental corners, also known as PC's are a well structured, thought out area within hockey. Which brings me to my next clip. 


TIP: If you didn't already know... 


If your youtube clip is taking a while to load and your either too bored and impatient to wait, simply click in the middle of the video (where the loading circle is going round), press either the up, down, left or the right arrow on your keyboard, a white dot will appear of the screen on your video and its time to play SNAKE. A 'worm' like figure, which is controlled by you and your arrows will get bigger/longer with every white dot that you eat. Have fun... Avoid  hitting yourself or the edges.. Unfortunately you will die tehe- Youtube creators really did think of everything. 







Following on from goal scoring is defending, being a defender myself this sum's up what I do during a game. So, lets see how I roll 





Ive shown you clips of different aspects of the game, however here is one which shows off what skills individuals have developed, away from the field. 






And now for my final.... 







"Absolutely Everybody"... Two words which I believe best describes the game. As shown in the clip, it expresses that no matter your age, where you come from, your experience, or even the number involved, EVERYBODY can play. No matter the reason one is playing, hockey is an occupation which serves many meaningful purposes. 

Video Production- aka Granny gets a stick

A side from the oscar nominations that this short film delivers, over coming adversity was the key message which myself and the other members were trying to portray. Dictionary.com states that adversity is a condition marked by misfortune, calamity, or distress ( Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adversity). The movie begins with an elderly lady having great difficulty walking, let alone getting up the stairs. To her surprise a bystander observes this and lends a hand, however it only fix's the solution for a period of time. Watching from the distance, a OT approaches the old lady and produces a walking stick, which she gifts to her. It is from this equipment which the Granny is able to over come her adversity and skip away. 

Tutorial Two: Digital Imaging

Although Im sure most of us would find it hard to admit just how vain we are, but secretly we love seeing how good we look in last nights pictures. Which brings me to the topic of my next blog- Digital Imaging. The focus of this tutorial was how we use digital camera's, capture photos and of course ethical considerations surrounding this topic. 

Digital Imaging allows individuals to freeze moments in time and capture memories that last a life time. Although there is something quite unique about the method behind a dark room, within this fast pass life style, being able to simply pull your camera out of your purse and become snap happy differently has it's place within this day in age. 

MOVING ON... 

Storing and transferring images is a hug part of Digital Imaging. Now days we are privileged to be able to take videos, pictures and audio recording all in the one gadget. From this, data can be transferred to many software programmes, for example, Google, email, social network, youtube. 

Where are Digital Cameras used?

Every aspect of our life's is exposed to digital cameras. Areas such as work, play, sport, family and our daily activities. 

Work: Education, fashion, housing modifications, real estate and many more all use digital cameras to support and justify their area of work. 

Play: A way to display an individuals personal interests through their passion and a record of their life, 

Sport: Whether your winning the rugby world cup or scoring your first goal in soccer as a six year old. Capturing moments during sport is among the most common areas of Digital Imagery. 

Family: Capturing family events, recording special occasions, allows generations to view their family history. 

Daily Activity: Present a record events throughout the day. 

From these areas, individuals are able to express and portray themselves through digital imagery. 

"A new technology are never totally superior to the

 older technologies they attempt to replace"

I tend to to disagree with this statement. What happened to the days where the only way to develop a picture was in a dark room, or cell phones were simply meant to just call people, or the only gaming console was 'sega'.... Those days are GONE. As the decades fly by, technology is replacing old technology with new and improved versions. We now have digital cameras, able to store thousands of individual photos, videos. Cell phones are connecting us with a large population, through in built cameras, recording technology, as well as gaming consoles have given us the ability to connect to the internet and play games against people we have never meet before. Technician's who supply us with such incredible gadgets, are simply meeting the demands of billions of humans around the world, wanting and expecting a new and exciting 'toy' to play with. Our life has become so centred around technology that every nation would be at a loss if there was a malfunction. However just like the on going growth of technology, ways around this from happening are constantly being improved. The average percentage of society, would happily upgrade old technology to new technology. Technology does not 'attempt' to replace old technology, it is simply over taking it. 

Ethical Issues

What better ethical issue to discuss than the topic surrounding facebook. Now i ask, how many of you have had a picture displayed on facebook that portrays you in a manner which you would rather forget?. Personally I have. Now technically our 'so called friends' should have asked our consent before embarrassing us, for all to see. As we throw ourselves bodily infront of the camera on a night out, has it ever crossed our minds where the operator will be storing these photos, displaying them, and finally who exactly will have access to them. 

In a complete 'PC' world we would not have to answer the above questions. However due to the distribution of images using IT it is something which we all must be aware of. 

Giving the right to others to have a say in how their images will be used is extremely important. Especially when you are involved in occupation settings such as, health, education, and even the government. 

Ways in which Digital cameras are used in OT's  

Within my fieldwork two placement, cameras were often used. It was a way for family members to see their parents or siblings encaging in meaningful occupation even though they suffered from dementia. OT's treat occupation as the essence of being human. From this statement, using cameras to capture a patients rehab within a certain demeanor of their daily lives, helps to justify why we choose a certain method of therapy. Cameras enables patients to see their process from the start of intervention to after intervention. 

Tutorial One- Technology and Ethics

Where else to begin this paper but kicking off a discussion about technology and ethics. Here are a few ideas about each concept.

Information Technology

Information technology, also known as IT can be defined as "The branch of engineering that deals with the use of computers and telecommunications to retrieve and store and transmit information". 

WordNet (2011). Information Technology. Retrieved from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=information%20technology. 

This definition I believe sums up a relatively broad area surrounding technology. If Im honest, prior to this paper my only encounter with an IT technician was asking him to add some money onto my printing credit. So as you can tell, I had limited understanding of what went on behind the scenes. I am now aware that when I turn my computer on I am involved with a wide range of IT aspects, from converting, storing and retrieving information. Emailing, facebook, youtube would not be made possible without IT. IT has allowed the world's population to access areas of the planet which would not be made accessable without it. It is constantly changing and improving, bringing us modern forms of IT in the function's of mobel phones, Ipods, MP3 players, game consoles and many more. Who knows where this form of technology will be for the generation's to come. 

How important is IT within society? .......   VITUAL

Society is about the connection of humans within a particular area, their social status and the roles that one plays. Supermarkets, banks, retail shops, all areas among our society which use and rely on IT to help run the business. Supermarkets, banks and hospitals are estential for our survival within society. Each of these areas are run by a date base storing, retrieving and relaying information back to workers, enabling the link between society and IT. Here is an interesting video relating to this topic. 

Within my life I have been exposed to a number of varied areas within IT, such as; cellphones, Tv, Ipod, camera, computer, gaming consoles. I am confident in using these however the age old saying, technology is fantastic but the moment it stops working I am at a complete loss and it infuriates me. 

I was placed in a community setting last year, more often then not my supervisor and myself were out of the office throughout the day. My supervisor always carried with her a cell phone and also a pager. These connected her back to her co-workers, which they could easily contact her regarding another patient. Patients files are all be located on a large data base, allowing many health professionals to access. Programs on the computer such as, designing a floor plan for a patients new bathroom or sending away a proposal to ACC, in relation to founding. Above are all areas which i encountered involving IT, during my Occupation Therapy practical experience. 

Issues surrounding these forms of IT are, if there is ever a powercut or cell phone companies systems crash, it leaves many therapists and doctors without communication. Health professionals are unable to access important information.

Technology is being incorporated within interventions to improve a patients quality of life. Whether it is improving ones cognitive function or the range or motion from a result of a brain injury. Here is a video, of a new rehab focus using technology. 

Im sure if you asked an Occupational Therapist, who practiced in 1970 whether there was a place in the OT process for technology, they would laugh at you. However over time technology has begun to shape our current lifestyle. It has improved the communication between health professionals, connecting each other through one data base and making it more mangable to access. For those with the only ability to blink an eye or verbally talk, technology has provided patients to engage in activities they never would have dreamed about doing. It has created an independence among many disabled individuals. Technology is the way forward, and a concept which OT's need to become familar with, as it surrounds us during practice.  

Ethics 

Although technology is a significant concept within our lifes, ethical responsiblities are a must. Privacy, copywriting, are areas which need to be considered. Addressing and stating who a recording belongs to needs to be made clear. Although it is all too easy to copy and paste, the ownership of someone elses work should be identified. Receiving consent to film or capture someone involves ones privacy and the right to be able to say no. 

Terminology such as intellectual property, social justice and informed consent are three important concepts relating to ethics.

Intellectual Property 

The Intellectual Property organization states that, Intellectual Property (IP) refers to creation of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. 

(Retrieved from http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/) 

To summerize IP, it simply means what ever an individual has produced, it belongs souly to them. While using someone else work, one must acknowledge or ask before pursuing. As an Occupational Therapist it is crutial we use evidence to support our clincial decisions. However if the therapist has used someone else's ideas and research, acknowledging that person is their intellectual property. 

Social Justice 

Wikipedia defines social justice as "the idea of creating a society or institution that is base on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and value human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being". 

(Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice) 

Based upon this defination every human being has the opportunity and access to benefits in a equal manner. In relation to Occupational Therapy, new technology is often becoming available with the help from founding, each client has the right to the opportunity to access it. 

Informed Consent  

About.com defines Informed Consent as "a legal procedure to ensure that a patient or client knows all of the risks and costs involved in a treatment. The elements of informed consents include informing the client of the nature of the treatment, possible alternative treatments, and the potential risks and benefits of the treatment." 

(Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/iindex/g/def_informedcon.htm). 

A very important legal document explanning an individuals human right, to have the choose to say no, with all the information present. There are many occasions while practicing as an Occupational Therapist which you must get informed consent for. Typical occasions include, recording a patient, you need to explain what the information will be used for, what will happen with the information and who will see it. 

That concludes Tutorial One.