>From Advance for Directors in Rehabilitation, Vol 18, No.4 Here's a great quote from the article on page 33:
"the role of a therapist must expand beyond traditional objectives to a view that allows clients to return to community ambulation and a satisfying, productive life. This requires a thorough understanding of the 'whole person' - a patient with unique physical, cognitive, emotional , social and spiritual characteristics. A holistic treatment plan can address these comprehensive issues and define primary roles for therapists across disciplines." This is a great description of how OT should be. Too bad this is written by a PT about PT! I left one word of out the quote's 1st line, it actually reads: "the role of a PHYSICAL therapist..." Once again, as adult phys dys OT's are stuck in the STUPID role of being "crappy upper extremity PT's", the PT's are starting to do what we should already be doing! I sometimes think we are the dumbest profession on the face of the earth. How did we ever make it this far? How and why are 1,000's of OT standing around with their thumbs up their nose wasting money and time doing non-necessary, non-skilled, UE exercises while patients can't get from point A to point B to do the things they want? That slogan of "PT teaches you how to walk and OT teaches what to do when you get there" is dumb. It's dumb because patients do not care what they are going to do when they get there! They primarily care about getting there! For a long time, I've said that OT should be the mobility experts and the above quote is EXACTLY why. We, yes OT, is the best profession to look at the multiple factors inhibiting and contributing to successful engagement in mobility-related occupations. Why must PT see that mobility is much more than gait but OT refuses to recognize that occupation involves gait. Can I teach a person to get from point A to point B? Sure. Do I get overly involved in the correct procedure of toe off, swing through, etc? No. That's PT! Do, I worry about causing injury from improper gait? Sure! Do I do stretching and LE exercises? Only to show the patient, the rest I leave up to PT. See, I think PT needs to stay in their well-defined role of being PHYSICAL therapists. They are the EXPERTS on physical dysfunction. Strengthening, ROM, pain - these are PT's domain. On the other hand, OT's domain is OCCUPATION. It's the doing of daily activity from going pee to cooking a meal to driving a car. It's the rich world of making our lives worth living. It's the utterly complex and at time overwhelming treatment realm of physical, mental, emotional, social and environmental all rolled up into one big ball of string! It's a WONDERFUL place for and OT to call home! You know, OT needs to heal OUR splintered mind! Ron ~~~ Ron Carson MHS, OT www.OTnow.com -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/otlist@otnow.com