Joe's OT blog

Last Friday in our class centered around older adults, we had a guest lecturer who talked about the importance of sexual health and aging. She explained the numerous benefits sexual activity can have on the aging adult. Studies have shown that orgasms can relieve pain, reduce stress, improve sleep and boost the immune system. Overall any form of sexual activity can increase cognitive functioning. She then talked about why some older adults participate in a decreased amount of sexual activity and ways we can combat this. Two interventions are listed below: one in a group based setting and one client-based intervention. One intervention that comes to mind is a group intervention for a group of males with erectile dysfunction. This would involve mostly educating the clients on ways to improve sexual health as you get older. As we age we face many physical changes that affect our ability to perform sexually and one of these is erectile dysfunction. As our guest speaker mentioned there a...

Last week in our occupation-centered practice with older adults class, we had a guest lecturer on adaptive driving and community mobility. This lecture was very informative and I learned a lot from the experience. It is hard for us to think about it but driving is a very difficult and important skill that requires many different attributes. When we talk about an adaptive driving program, the focus is on three main purposes: assessing the individual for safety and the potential to drive, evaluate individuals for appropriate adaptive equipment, and train individuals in the use of the equipment and compensatory techniques for driving. When assessing the individual there are two main components: the clinical evaluation and the behind-the-wheel assessment. The clinical evaluation is going to focus on a vision screening, visual perception, cognition, active range of motion, sensation of upper and lower extremities, grip, rules of the road, and insight and awareness. If all these skills pro...