Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood to adolescence through to adulthood. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.

An Occupational Therapist looks at how a person’s function is impacted by their mental state. Mental health is key when considering any occupational therapy intervention to empower and motivate a person through periods of change.

At Living Strength, we focus on improving a person’s function and promoting independence by providing treatment, intervention and strategies for all ages with chronic illness. The following are how some occupational therapy is used to support a people with mental health recovery:

• Assisting with identifying healthy habits, and with implementing them to establish a lifestyle that contributes to overall wellbeing. This involves removing and managing barriers, and promoting a supportive environment.
• Educating clients and supporting the uptake of coping strategies in order to assist the management of symptoms.. This may include techniques and developing strategies to independently participate in activities of daily living.
• Supporting long-term planning processes to meet personal recovery goals, including budgeting
• Providing resources to enhance awareness of community-centered programs

If you are concerned about yourself, a family member, or someone you know, contact our friendly Occupational Therapy team for a chat on 02 4340 0883.

What exactly is cognitive impairment?

 Cognitive impairment is not an illness, but a description of someone's condition. It means they have trouble with things like memory or paying attention. They might have trouble speaking or understanding, they might have difficulty recognising people, places or things and might find new places or situations overwhelming.

Family and friends might notice that someone with cognitive impairment is confused, agitated, or very moody. They might notice a change in their speech or behaviour, or that they have difficulty with their usual daily tasks.

Cognitive impairment can come and go, it can also be mild,  severe, or anything in between.

 

How can this affect my loved one?

Cognitive impairments can affect a person's ability to perform daily functional tasks. Some examples include the inability to formulate, plan and execute a process without structure, initial support or guidance. Impact may be seen in areas such as short-term memory impairments, auditory processing impairments and visual–spatial impairments.

This can be distressing to you and your loved one. Seeking professional support can help ease the burden and trauma.

 

How can Occupational Therapy Help? 

Occupational Therapists can create changes that can help people with cognitive impairment rediscover their independence and live their lives as closely as they did prior to the change.

Occupational Therapists aim to reintroduce meaning and value to daily life.

Some of the Occupational therapy interventions include: 

• Setting up aids, such as reminder apps, to help perform tasks at the right time, and assist with a smooth flow of work activity.
• When auditory processing impairments are present, training the person in compensation strategies.
• Training individuals on the best ways to engage with the environment when visual impairment is present.
• Setting appropriate goals to develop rehabilitation that will improve abilities in attention, problem solving and analysis, whilst minimising distraction.
• Designing relaxation techniques to manage stress and restore effective sleep patterns.
• Understanding and addressing the person’s mental health to assist successful functioning with the aim to resume a valued and productive life that supports their self-esteem.
• Assessing the prospect of resuming driving, which can significantly affect a person’s ability to return to work. Some practices have specialist driving programs, however general occupational therapy practices can also undertake driving assessments.

Our Occupational Therapists maximise the opportunities to integrate methods that empower people with cognitive impairments and through occupational therapy intervention can reintroduce value and confidence back into everyday life.

What should I do next?

If you are unsure on what the next steps are, please give our friendly team at Living Strength OT a call. We can help run you through options, costs and actions to help improve the quality of life of yourself and your loved ones.

Did you know that 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 have a fall each year? Falls can have a big impact on a person’s confidence, mobility and independence but there are steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of a fall at home. Occupational therapy can help you, or someone you care about, reduce the risk of a fall allowing you to pursue the activities you enjoy most by helping you active, healthy and independent.

At Living Strength OT we value the importance of evidence-based research on fall prevention along with how to implement effective intervention and strategies that are based on sound research. Fall prevention programs have been shown to be most effective when they address multiple risk factors. These factors may include poor balance, leg weakness and taking multiple medications.

Our Occupational Therapists observes and considers how the person performs their daily activities in their day-to-day environment. The screening process includes educating the person how to identify and solve problems to reduce trip and fall hazards.When assessing risk it is particularly important to consider and reviewing multiple risk factors prior to implementing effective intervention. Reasons for this are to reduce the likelihood of falls, increase the person’s confidence and improving the person’s independence.

If you are concerned about yourself, a family member, or someone you know, contact our friendly Occupational Therapy team for a chat on 02 4340 0883.

What is energy conservation about?

Energy conservation refers to the implementation of principals and techniques that may preserve a person’s energy level whilst they complete activities throughout the day. This may assist in minimising muscle fatigue, joint stress, and pain.

Conservation promotes using your body efficiently and doing things in a sequential way to save your energy. Implementing strategies may enable you to preserve your levels and allow you to remain independent that would last throughout the day. It’s important to get the most out of our day and limit fatigue.

For some people, daily activities that seem easy to others can be very tiring. Through energy conservation, people can complete everything they want to, and still have energy left over.

At Living Strength, the Occupational Therapists may help you in different ways, including:

• Teach you strategies on how to perform activities with efficiency
• Provide you with equipment that can help you complete a task independently
• Advise you on how to change certain parts of your home or work environment so you can perform activities with less energy
• Assist you to set goals that are achievable and realistic

Some key principals include:

• Prioritise activities performed throughout the day
• Planning your day to make the most of your energy
• Pace and taking regular breaks is an ideal way to balance your energy levels and complete all the task
• Reviewing your posture such as sitting can preserve energy as opposed to standing, and the use of perching stools can be very useful.

Helpful hints:

• Reduce the amount of activities you are doing daily. Dressing gowns, which can be used instead of towel-drying, are great for reducing bending and stretching. Letting dishes air dry also reduces the need to unnecessary use energy. Sitting down for activities is also great for some down time.
• Asking others for help is great for completing tasks safely and quickly. Sharing the load can significantly reduce the amount of energy you spend on tasks, and is a clever way for saving it for other important things.
• Maximise your relaxation time! Make sure you have comfortable chairs with back support.

Contact our friendly Occupational Therapy team on 02 4340 0883 for further information on Energy Conversation techniques.

At Living Strength Occupational Therapy we work with people of all ages! Our aim is to help anyone live a life, full of joy and adventures through the support of occupational therapy (OT). 

Children often have troubles grasping a few of life’s key skills, so it isn’t unusual for parents to seek professional help. For example did you know that a child struggling to grip a pen properly can be a common issue?

Remember, you are not alone and there is professional help to support you.

 

How does OT support a child?

OT is a treatment that works to improve both fine and gross motor skills as well as motor planning. It can also help kids who struggle with self-regulation and sensory processing.

 The therapy is tailored to each child’s specific needs. Before it begins, an occupational therapist (an OT) looks at the child’s strengths, challenges and the tasks that they have trouble with. The OT will then create a program of activities for the child to work on. 

 

When should I consider seeking support if I have concerns?

The earlier a child starts OT, the more effective it tends to be. Being able to do basic tasks can also help build up their self-esteem and confidence. Confidence can drop when they are struggling, especially in front of their peers.

Building confidence early is always best.

 

What will Occupational Therapy do? 

At Living Strength you will hear us refer to ADLs or 'activities of daily living' - this is our key focus. ADLs for example can include, struggling with everyday tasks like using a toothbrush, handwriting or dressing. 

Living Strength OT’s use a scientific approach to provide the best occupational therapy interventions available. As part of a holistic approach with the parent or the child’s guardian, these interventions consider the motor skills of the child, their activity demands, home environment, their routines and habits. 

Our Occupational Therapist may work with children on many different activities, here are some examples:

• Self-care or activities of daily living (brushing teeth, buttoning clothes, using eating utensils).
• Hand-eye coordination (writing on a classroom whiteboard, copying in a notebook what the teacher writes on the board).
• Fine motor skills (grasping and controlling a pencil, using scissors).
• Gross motor skills (doing jumping jacks, working on core muscle strength for sitting posture).
• Planning and organisation (helping a teen plan a trip to his locker to swap books or gym clothes for the next class period, using a graphic organiser for writing).
• Sensory responses (helping kids with sensory processing issues to respond to sensory input in more comfortable ways).

What should I do next?

The best next step is to discuss your child’s unique needs with the team at Living Strength. No question is too big or small, so please reach out to our friendly team.