Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living.
For the month of May, our O-Tip of the Week series will showcase some creative solutions using a commonly found household item – rubber bands.
For someone who is lacking grip strength or for kids needing to use “glass” glasses wrap elastic bands around the glass to create a non-slip surface.
Solve the following:
1. Flip Flops
2. Chicken Dinner
3. Blue in the Face
4. The Last Straw
5. The First Noel
6. Cabin by the Lake
puzzle care of thinkablepuzzles.com
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
I am not sure what the word “vertigo” refers to in U2’s hit song, but as someone living with vertigo, I can tell you it is not a place you want to be. Vertigo is highly unpleasant and can be caused by multiple factors including visual or auditory problems, or more commonly, head injury. I best describe my vertigo as my eyes and ears sending different messages to my brain regarding the position of my body in space. So, while my eyes tell me I am sitting still in a chair, my ears tell me I am on a boat in the middle of a hurricane. The result of these mixed messages is spinning, nausea, dizziness, problems walking, and ultimately dysfunction.
For me, my benign positional vertigo (BPV) lives in my right ear. As a result, I cannot lie on my right side, laterally flex my head to the right, lie flat with my neck extended, or look down into extreme flexion. While I can tolerate these movements momentarily, I cannot hold these positions for more than a few seconds otherwise I am sent into a spin that can last for days. I am fortunate to know my triggers and do my best to avoid them (no yoga for me). I have also learned, after living with this problem for two decades, how to catch my symptoms early to prevent a slight episode of dizziness from turning into days of bed rest.
When my clients experience vertigo and describe this to me, I can fully appreciate where they are coming from. The story is a book I too could write. But, like other “hidden” ailments, I get concerned when the medical community does not take this complaint seriously. This is especially true in my industry where insurers and their assessors often want “proof” of a health problem to support someone’s recovery. While I recognize that people can be dishonest, my experience is that people don’t make this stuff up. Health professionals need to give people the benefit of the doubt, including insurance situations. To understand, or better yet, support someone with any “invisible” problem like vertigo, health professionals need to be compassionate and should care enough to listen, to research and learn, and ultimately believe. Empathy, TRUST, and understanding will go a long way to support those that need it. I can only imagine how frustrating, devastating and angering it would be for someone to assume or opine that my “place called vertigo” is not a place at all: because, believe me, I live here.
previously posted August 2013
We have talked a lot on our blog about the benefits of regular physical activity for your physical, cognitive and mental health. Why? Because quite simply, other than laughter, physical activity is the best medicine! A study recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry looks at the relationship between regular exercise and depression. Learn more about this study here care of the New York Times.
The New York Times: Exercise May Help to Fend Off Depression
Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living.
Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress? Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning! Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized– because an organized space is a healthier space!
If your garage is anything like mine it is used for more than simply storing your vehicles. Sports equipment, garbage and recycling bins, lawnmowers, snowblowers and more share this space and without some strategic organization it can get quite crowded. The best solution for an organized garage is to take advantage of vertical space. Use wall shelves and peg boards for smaller items, and install hooks and shelves on the ceiling and walls to allow for increased space around the perimeter.
I come from a mine and am always surrounded by wood. Everyone uses me. What am I?
Pencil lead.
Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)
The major grocery stores in Ontario have been increasingly focusing their efforts on offering free or low-cost online shopping and pick up or delivery for customers. Thought to be a result of Millennial overscheduling and impatience, this trend can provide life-changing services for persons with disabilities. Whether a disability is physical, cognitive, mental or behavioural, public places can be extremely stressful and difficult for some people to navigate. With online ordering and pick up, shoppers simply need to select items and pay online, arrange a pick-up time, park in a designated spot, call to state their arrival and wait until the purchases are loaded into their vehicle.
This can help to not only improve the ease of shopping but also varies the level of participation which can benefit some people. For example, instead of sending a caregiver to the store with a list, if someone can use a computer, they can order the items they want independently and just leave the caregiver to do the pick-up. No more problems with getting that wrong type of pasta sauce!
This is also actually more cost-effective, even considering the fees. For example, if a caregiver is $25 per hour, then having them do shopping may cost $25-$50 in their hourly fee alone. With the pick-up option, the fees may be minimal (or “free” depending on the size of the order) and the caregiver can just spend 10-15 minutes doing the pick-up (or unpacking items if they are delivered) versus taking an hour or more to shop.
Here is some information on the offerings by store that are now available in most major stores across Ontario and if not, will be soon:
Additional helpful services in major stores include the self-scan option. For example, some Walmart locations offer self-scan in which you grab a scanner at the entrance and as you’re shopping you scan the items before putting them in your cart (and it’s pretty simple to remove items yourself if you change your mind). When you are finished shopping head to the reserved self-scan checkout, scan the barcode on your scanner, and your whole order pops up – you pay and leave without having to wait in line or converse with a sales associate or cashier. This option can be very helpful for people who may have social anxiety, limited tolerances for standing, walking, bending or reaching, have little time to do other responsibilities, or who are otherwise unable to tolerate the checkout part of shopping.
Overall, the possibilities and benefits are positive, and these services are proving very useful for people of all abilities.
Participaction and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, have created a fantastic resource for parents of children with disabilities. The Ability Toolkit’s purpose is to ensure that all children are meeting daily movement requirements. The toolkit helps to break down what a healthy day should look like for children and youth and provides ways to modify and adapt activities for many physical disabilities. Take a look at the Ability Toolkit here and if you’re struggling to find adapted physical activities for your child consult an Occupational Therapist who are experts in providing solutions for living.
Our O-Tip of the week series we will be providing valuable “OT-Approved Life Hacks” to provide you with simple and helpful solutions for living.
Did you know that being organized can help you to reduce stress? Spring is around the corner, and with it comes Spring Cleaning! Therefore, for the month of April, our O-Tip of the week series will share some of the best tips to help you get organized because an organized space is a healthier space!
Due to Birthdays, new babies, weddings, and more there always seems to be a gift to wrap, therefore in our household we always have rolls of paper, gift bags, and bows on hand. This consumes valuable storage space and can become quite messy if not organized properly. Why not try using vertical space to store these items? Try large hooks or magazine holders to neatly organize your gift bags and try plastic bag holder affixed to the wall to effortlessly keep all your paper rolls together.
photo care of onegoodthingbyjillee.com
What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
The letter “R”