July / August / September • Issue 3 • 2017
communiqué
THE
Illinois Occupational Therapy Assocation
In This Issue
Transitioning from
Nursing Facilities
The challenges in the shift
from institutional care to
community services and
social reintegration, Pages
6-9.
Oral Hygiene and
Disease Prevention
Providing a setup for
oral hygiene provides an
opportunity to prevent
diseases in patients, Page
14.
100-Year Celebration
at Conference
A preview of the many
exciting changes at this
year’s conference, Page 17.
Caregiver Education
During Spinal Cord
Injury Rehabilitation
Types of programming
for SCI individuals and
caregivers to leave
rehabilitation and find
success in the community,
Page 18-19.
Holly Gormley-Guttu, M.Ed., OTR/L
Joy M. Hyzny, MS, OTR/L
Assistive Technology: Go-To Resource List
for Professionals
You have probably heard the saying, “Things
are changing so fast it makes my head spin”.
Anything involving “technology” in 2017 is
sure to change rapidly. Occupational Therapists
often use assistive technology to enhance
therapeutic outcomes and independence. Our
basic focus and process of supporting our
students, clients or patients has remained fairly
constant, however the tools, the modifications,
and the pace of change has not.
There are so many resources available to
locate information about “assistive technology,”
some information online is produced by vendors
looking to sell products, while other sites are
devoted to implementation and training.
The information and resources pertaining to
technology during the mid 1990s was limited.
Today, however, if you conduct a basic Google
search for “assistive technology,” it will elicit
approximately 8,790,000 hits. Keeping up with
the changes in the technology and apps can be
challenging, especially as more user friendly
devices and programs are available to everyone.
It can be tempting to become excited about the
potential of a new type of technology or the
possible appeal to the user, however, as in other
areas of our field, we must be aware that what
we recommend or try out with our students,
clients and patients should create opportunities
for increasing their independence and avoid
creating barriers or different challenges.
Best Practice
One of the best skills that OTs bring
to a team includes activity analysis. When
considering the use of assistive technology, best
practice guides us in looking at:
• Considering what the person brings to
the task, (i.e., their physical, cognitive,
communication, emotional, social and
personal skills).
• Considering the environment the task
will be performed in and how that
environment can affect its outcome.
• Are the tasks either expected or preferred
by the person? For example, a student may
be expected to draw and write about the
life cycle of a plant, yet an older person
may plan a garden on paper taking into
account how large certain plants can be as
they grow. The task may be the same but
the components of that task may change
across environments and task demands.
• What are the features of a tool (i.e., device,
app) that match the person’s ability level?
Our goal in working with students,
patients and clients is to support them with
being successful in completing these tasks
and increasing their independence across
environments. This also includes leisure, ADL,
learning, and play activities. Remembering the
last two skill areas do not stop when the student
finishes school. To do this, having knowledge
about the evaluation process, conducting trials
with devices, training our students, clients and
patients on how to use the devices and how
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