Neuro Note #5-Preparing for Alzheimer's

This Ted Talk is very interesting in the approach it takes to Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This talk looks at how to prevent it.  Alanna Shaika talks about watching her dad struggle through the disease. Her dad was a professor and music enthusiast. With AD the focus is on continuing to do what is familiar to a person. Her father loved to read and write, both of which are difficult to do with AD. So they had her dad fill out paperwork. He knew how to sign his name and he knew how to check boxes. it seems like an odd thing to do, but I think it is great that they found something for him that was "familiar" and not just do this and it can help. From her fathers battle with AD, Alanna has decided to focus on three things to change in he life. They are: focus on the ways she has fun, build strength, and try to be a better person. She, like her dad, likes to read and write. But these are things that are difficult to do with AD. She is tying to find hands on hobbies, like knitting. Dementia has been shown to run in families. It is likely that she will be diagnosed with AD. She wants to have a hobby that she can do, if that day comes. She also wants to build strength. She does not want to have any issues with her mobility. She has been practicing Tai Chi. She wants to be as mobile as she can. Lastly, she is trying to be a better person. AD can strip a person of who they are. However, her father still loves his children and grandchildren. Even after all AD has taken from him, he can still love those closest to him.

I think this is an inspiring story! It makes me want to try what Alanna is trying in her life. In class we have covered the incidence and prevalence of a few of the most well know neurological disease. Most of the people in the class know someone who has be affected by on of these issues. It is silly, not think that that will not happen to me one day. Some diseases I cannot prepare for (like a traumatic brain injury or coma), but the ones that I can (like AD) prepare for, I should. It does not take time away from anything that I do now. It gives me a learning opportunity and a way to be proactive in my life. Why would I not do something that is good for me?

Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/alanna_shaikh_how_i_m_preparing_to_get_alzheimer_s#t-287559

1st SIM Experience

1. I feel that I performed average during my first SIM experience. As I watched the video and we debriefed after the experience, I realized that I forgot to do a few things. I did not explain OT. I was so caught up in trying to determine if I should call myself a student OT or an OT that when asked what an OT was I thought the client meant the word "student" and I was confused. I know I gave her a strange look. I did not validate the client’s identity in the best way. I should have tried to check the arm band instead of just asking if her name was Frances. I cannot tell if I needed to give clearer instructions and slow my speech or if the actor was acting well. Because she asked me to repeat a question at one point. Lastly, I need to understand the assessment better regarding what can and can't be repeated and how that affects the results. I know I repeated a part of the assessment that I did not need to, but the client did not catch all the numbers.

2. I thought I did a respectable job of establishing a therapeutic relationship with the client. Some may call it her distracting me by asking about my ring and husband, but I learned more about the client through questions that I asked her and the ones that she asked me. 

3. I am trying to decide if I tried too hard to build a therapeutic relationship at first by asking random questions off the assessment. An example is asking if the client ever had a tricycle. But I think that may have opened doors to encourage the client to talk.

4. I wonder if the clients had access to the test before we went in? I had to repeat a portion on the assessment with lots of numbers. The client answered the second question on the assessment and not the first question which was the original question I asked. I just found that puzzling.

5. I would not be concerned with check marks on a list of what I need to do and just relax. I would also practice the assessment on more people to be sure I understand how to make it flow better.

6. Clients will always distract you and practice the assessment multiple times on different people before using it.