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Archive for category: Original Posts

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Holiday Season Survival Guide

December is, legitimately, the most stressful month of the year. Shopping and presents, food preparation, cards, socializing, crowds, different schedules and routines, decorations, spending, pressure to buy the right thing for the right person – and not forgetting anyone.

Instead of harping on all the reasons I struggle this time of year, I am going to be productive and offer some practical suggestions for people that also have issues getting through to January. Here are Julie’s TOP 10 TIPS based on my own experiences as a busy mom, but also as an occupational therapist who often helps people to break down tasks into more manageable, and less stressful chunks:

holiday-survival-guide

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How Stress is Affecting Your Health

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

We know that exercise, sleep and healthy eating are the three most prominent predictors of health.  But in exploring my own health issues of recent, I was reminded of another important key to this puzzle:  stress.  So, I put together my own simple health formula:

Eat well + exercise + sleep – stress = health.

Complicated, I know, but the impact of stress cannot be overemphasized:

In 2013, Statistics Canada reported that 23.0% (6.6 million) of Canadians aged 15 and older reported that most days were ‘quite a bit’ or ‘extremely stressful’, unchanged from 2012.  Females report slightly more stress than males, at 24.6%, to 21.3%, respectively.  That is a lot of stress.

While we know that some stress is good (“eustress”) and causes us to “up our game” and become better, stronger or more resilient, most is bad (“distress”) and can lead to a multitude of health problems including headaches, stomach issues, blood pressure increases, heart problems, diet and sleep disorders.  Further, often stress can resort to poor coping through alcohol and drugs, leading to even bigger issues (WebMD).

Honestly, I get it.  Stress is everywhere.  I feel stress as a mom, as a wife, as a daughter, as an in-law, as a sister, as an entrepreneur, a health professional, business partner, boss, pet-owner, neighbor, friend and honestly a human-being (did Trump really get elected?).  Managing this stress to the point of having a suitable deductible from my health equation is an important priority. 

So how does occupational therapy help?  Well, knowing that stress is a predictor of health, and that it is hard to rehabilitate people who are acutely and chronically stressed, focusing on stress-reducing strategies is one of the key foundations of helping people to function better.  Of course, the nature of the stress-reducing strategy will depend on the person, and how they rate and identify their main stressors.  However, typically occupational therapists help people to manage stress both actively and passively. 

Actively, we want people to identify their stress, work to reduce or eliminate this if possible, and start aligning their time with stress-reducing activities.  Meditation, relaxation exercises, deep breathing, scheduled breaks at work, exercise (even if mild), improved sleep, and changing roles at home or work can start moving stress along the continuum from problematic to manageable.

Passively, there are ways to avoid stress once the triggers are identified.  Proper planning of activities and events, avoidance of stressful situations or people, learning to say “no”, setting boundaries, and having a routine that does not allow stress to move in and start sleeping on your couch can prove helpful.

Ironically, exercise, sleep and eating well work to reduce stress as well, so if you can heavily weight the first half of my untested equation, you can still move things into the health stratosphere.  Parents need to remember too that kids also feel stress (school, sports, worries about this or that) so monitoring their stress is also important because they may lack the skills to identify or manage this themselves.  Play, games, sports, free time, adequate sleep, not taking school too seriously, and creative non-tech outlets are other strategies to help kids (and adults) de-stress and add deposits into their healthy bank account.

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Solutions For Conserving Your Energy

Energy is like a currency, we only have so much of it and need to spend it wisely throughout our day. Conserving energy during small tasks throughout the day helps to save needed energy for important, meaningful daily activities. If energy is a precious resource to you, planning ahead with the help of the following checklist will help you conserve as much energy as possible throughout your day.

The following FREE printable will help you to identify which activities have high, medium and low energy costs and can help you to plan your days and weeks to balance your overall energy expenditure.

energy-conservation-checklist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more helpful tools please visit our Printable Resources Page.

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What is The AODA?

If you are not familiar, with the AODA this is Ontario’s way of making the province accessible by addressing the following key areas so that people with disabilities can more fully participate in their communities:  customer service, employment, information and communication, transportation, and design of public spaces.  This a catch-all legislation aimed to create a culture of acceptance for people of all abilities.

Learn more about how Occupational Therapists can help to make your organization more accessible in the following infographic:

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Never Miss An Appointment Again

Many people who have been injured, are chronically ill or are aging have multiple recurring appointments each month with Doctors, specialists, lawyers and more.  It can be difficult for the person and their caregivers to keep track of these.  Our FREE printable Upcoming Appointment Tracker will help to ensure your appointments are easily scheduled and never missed.

Simply print, fill out and post.

appointment-manager

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For additional helpful tools visit our printable resources page.

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Falls Are a Leading Cause of Injury- Let’s Talk Prevention

Did you know that in Canada falls are the leading cause of injury amoung older Canadians?  And that 20-30% of seniors experience one or more falls each year? Falls are also the number one cause of both brain and spinal cord injury in seniors.

November is Fall Prevention Month and we want to share with you some of the ways an Occupational Therapist can work with seniors to help prevent this danger.

In the following episode of our OT-V video series we discuss some ways to reduce the risk of falls and help keep you and your loved ones safe.

Learn more about safety for seniors on our Healthy Seniors page.

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Help With the Morning Rush

Mornings with children can be hectic… to say the least.  Ensuring kids are awake on time, dressed, fed, and ready for the day, all while you are trying to get yourself to work on time, can cause a great deal of stress and set a negative tone for the day ahead.

Our FREE printable checklist will help kids become accountable for their morning routines and allow you and your family wake up on the right side of the bed each and every morning.

morning-checklist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more helpful tools visit our Printable Resources Page.

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What’s Your Emotional IQ?

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

I have four daughters – two are teens and two are tweens.  That is a lot of estrogen in our house.  Yet it is an interesting time for our family – as our girls are navigating the perils of adolescence I too am finding myself in a stage I am calling “adultescence” whereby my thoughts, feelings and emotions are changing as theirs are.  This creates an interesting ebb and flow of all of us learning together what it all means as a teen girl to “grow up” and as an adult to start “letting go”.

I had one of those adultescent “ahaha” moments the other day with one of my teen daughters.  She is very socially driven and relationships are very important to her.  Over the last few months as school has resumed, she has been struggling with some of her friendships.  One girl just suddenly stopped responding to messages, one takes pleasure in forwarding hurtful messages, and another treats my daughter as the weekend “last resort”.  In talking to my daughter about these events, my “ahaha” moment came when I realized that my daughter, already, is highly emotionally intelligent.  She has the ability to put herself in the position of others and regulates her own behavior (so far) on how she would feel as the recipient.  This is a gift for her, but puts her at a relationship disadvantage as many of her peers are not there yet.   She “feels” in a relationship like she is 25, but is trying to rationalize the emotional behavior of kids 13 and 14.

According to psychology today, Emotional Intelligence includes three skills:

1. Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others;

2. The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving;

3. The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person.

Emotional intelligence then includes:  self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.  It can affect: personal relationships, workplace (or school) performance, physical and mental health, and how you deal with situations such as loss or disability.

The good news is that experts believe that emotional intelligence can be learned, even in adults.  How do you know if you are emotionally intelligent?  Perhaps reflect on your relationships – are you able to sustain positive and loving bonds with others?  Can you empathize and relate to people during their struggles, and do they know that you “get it” and are emotionally available to them?  Do you regulate your own behavior based on how others might feel if you act a certain way, or say certain things?  Before sending that text, email or calling someone in anger do you consider how you want them to “feel” following your interaction?  Do you take pleasure in being right even if that makes others feel bad?  If you want to test your level of emotional intelligence, or raise your emotional IQ, take a quiz to see where you’re at:  Emotional Intelligence Quotient Quiz.

Do you think you need to improve in this area?  Some suggestions include:

  • practice mindfulness – in social situations, at work, at home with family relationships.
  • Stay in touch with your feelings through journaling or meditation “check-ins”.
  • Connect your feelings to the situation and try to separate the person from their behavior.
  • Check your thoughts – how you think can become how you feel, and the good news is you can change how you think!
  • Communicate with others and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable to those close to you to help sort through feelings, thoughts and emotions.
  • And if you can, don’t take the comments of others personally.  Their thoughts about you do not need to become the thoughts you have about yourself.
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Medication Management

Many people who have been injured, are ill or are aging take multiple medications every day as part of their ongoing treatment.  It is very important to stay on top of your medications and to know the purpose of each prescription.  Your Pharmacist will be able to provide you with detailed information that you should take with you to each and every medical appointment you have.  To help you keep track at home we recommend using a dossette as an organizer and to have a chart posted near your medications.

The following FREE printable can help you, your family and caretakers keep track of all of your medications.  Simply print, fill out and post.

medication-log

 

Find additional helpful checklists and resources on our Printable Resources page.

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Occupational Therapy Works!

We know this, but it is great that others are discovering it too.

In a recent study, independent researchers determined that Occupational Therapy was the ONLY health profession to reduce hospital readmission for people with heart failure, pneumonia and acute myocardial infarction.   In the article, occupational therapy is recognized to “place[s] a unique and immediate focus on patients’ functional and social needs, which can be important drivers of readmission if left unaddressed.”

The article highlights that occupational therapists answer the important question “can the patient be safely discharged to his or her environment” and are involved with patients to:  educate caregivers, determine if people can live independently, provide devices, complete home safety assessments, assess and treat cognitive issues, and work with physical therapists to increase the intensity of inpatient rehabilitation.

It is wonderful to be recognized for the important part we play in preventing readmission, and to be acknowledged as a cost-effective provider of these essential services.  I trust the impact of occupational therapy also spans across other inpatient populations like brain injury, orthopedics, neurology, and cancer recovery (to name a few) and I hope proving this is the focus of future articles.