Overview

Now that I have completed my blog tutorials I can see the links between occupational therapy and technology clearly. I am looking forward to completing my course and finding out more technologies that can be used in OT and applying them to certain situations. This course has increased my confidence in both understanding and using technology. I have also been interested in reading blogs but until now I have never been interested in creating my own blog but I am now considering it. For anyone that has spent time viewing or reading my blog, i hope you enjoyed it and have learnt something useful.

BYE

Tutorial Eight

Assistive technology is used to improve, increase or maintain an individuals functional capabilities through the use of devices, products or equipment (Gerard, 2001). Assistive technology is also known as adaptive technology and is commonly used with occupational therapy. Assistive technology products are used to allow individuals with disabilities to carry out activities of daily living in many areas including communication, education, work, recreation (Rehab Tool, 2004). Assistive devices are used to improve an individuals physical and mental functioning. This may be through preventing a decrease in the condition, strengthening an area or improving the individuals knowledge(Rehab Tool, 2004). I understand assistive technology to be something that not only enables participation for individuals with a disability but it also provides individuals with independence, a sense of accomplishment and increases their quality of life.

One piece of equipment that i found to very interesting in the assistive technology tutorial was the apple ipad. It can be used in a variety of ways and can be adjusted to be age appropriate. There were games that could be used to asses many areas including hand and eye co-ordination, speed, level of concentration, and many more. Although this product retails at around $500 (depending on the version), it can be used daily in certain settings and will last a long time if treated and handled correctly (Nusca, 2010) - image below. Overtime this product can improve an individuals level of functioning both physically and mentally as it provides a range of tools that can be easily downloaded. A more in depth overview on the apple iPad can be found here.

 This is a clip that i found on youtube that explains the basics about the apple ipad. It is definitely worth a look if you are unsure of how the ipad is an assistive device that can be used in OT practice.

Gerard, D. (2001, December 17). What is assistive technology? Retrieved from http://www.rehabtool.com/forum/discussions/1.html

Nusca, A. (2010, January 27). Apple iPad tablet: specs, features, price announced. Retrieved from  http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/apple-ipad-tablet-specs-features-price-announced/11721

Rehab Tool. (2004). Assistive technology. Retrieved from http://www.rehabtool.com/at.html



Tutorial Seven

I have made comments on five different blogs from students in my dunedin course that I was interested in. The links to their blogs are as follows;

Janine
Ashley
Kylie
Annie
Kendyl

Tutorial Six

PHOTOGRAPHY

Flickr
Flickr is an easy accessible tool that allows people to share and view photographs and videos of their choice. The flickr service has two main goals. They want to help people from all over the world, make their photos available to those who are important to them. Secondly, flickr has been created to allow a new way that photos and videos can be organised. I have been interested in flickr for quite a while, but have only recently created a flickr account. It is simple to use, and amazing to see talent of photographers and beauty of images from all areas of the world. As flickr is very popular, privacy regulations have been put in place. As an account holder you can choose who views you photos, easily update or delete photos, and default privacy settings/details about yourself and your photos. Flickr also has the right to terminate a users account if they breach copyright policies. This ensures that photos that are viewed are unique and therefore hold more value for the creator and viewer.

http://www.flickr.com/

Blog
A blog that I religiously follow is Bleubird Vintage. I found this blog after becoming quite interested in this bloggers clothing range. Although this blog is quite a personal blog I am also interested to see what interesting photographs she puts up next. The photos are what attracted me to this blog and are defiantly the reason I keep returning and carrying out my love of photography. As the saying goes "a picture tells a thousand words". This blog allows me to keep up to date with my interests and provides me with a different perspective - not just from this blogger, but also from bloggers that post comments. Comment spaces on blogs allow the viewers to state their opinion and also connect viewers to their own or other blogs that they ma be interested.

PhotoTherapy discussion group
I have just discovered this discussion group online. It is a very interesting as it focuses on using phototherapy with a range of clients seeking occupational therapy intervention, including Anorexia Nervosa clients. Photo therapy can be used in many ways for a range of situations, but the main focus of it is to prove active change through photography. These photos can be of the client, others that important to them, the environment around them or randomly taken. In this discussion the author, Ellen Lamberg focuses on clients taking self portraits to reach a deeper emotional level in the client. This resulted in them positively seeing change, sharing thoughts and dealing with their concerns. I found this a very interesting topic as it involved my two key interests of Occupational Therapy and photography. Others can leave comments on this discussion and many have left interesting points. This is defiantly something that i will defiantly be interested in in the future.

The three above examples of online communities can be very interesting and educational if used correctly. All three communities require those who wish to leave comments or create topics of discussion to sign up to some form of account. This often requires personal information. It is possible that this information can be seen by others using the online service or those seeking information that will most likely be used inappropriately.  This raises ethical issues and emphasises the care that needs to be taken when sharing information online. However there is also the case of not sharing personal information which can lead to other issues. As some comments that are left on online communities are not always positive, it is harder to find out who these comments belong to, therefore making it hard for the author/creator to ban them from the social service. Those that do use the online communities correctly benefit in many areas that may include for educational, social and trialling purposes.

Tutorial Five

Youtube is a very popular internet website that was created in 2005. It allows billions of web users all over the world to discover, watch and share videos of their choice. It is used as a way for people to express, explore, advertise, inspire, create and distribute original videos from round the globe. There are certain restrictions and privacy policies that users must abide by. If these are not followed the users account will be terminated. However, when used correctly, youtube is an very entertaining way to view and share creativeness.

While I was on my first placement I was lucky enough to spend a day with a hand therapist. I really enjoyed my time in this environment and was amazed at how different each condition was that the therapist attended to. Recently in one of my classes we have been discussing hand therapy. This has made me realise that branching off to a particular part of OT might be something I should consider in the future as I enjoyed the focusing solely on one particular part of the body, without limiting my knowledge, involvement and OT intervention. Here are some videos off youtube that explains hand therapy a bit more.

This video provides different examples of hand therapy and shows how it can link in with other therapy's to have a positive impact on the clients rehabilitation.

This video reminded me of an issue that i discussed with my supervising hand therapist. I was told that many different 'games' could be used for assessment on a variety of clients, however it was important to ensure that the materials used in the assessment were age related. I am unsure whether the materials in this clip were. I believe that having a restricting condition can be shameful enough for some clients without suggesting they carrying out a 'game' that they may have performed in early stages of their life. I think this is a very important point to consider.

This video shows the beginning stages of hand therapy that a client is receiving. Although the therapy seems to be very basic, it is important to begin small as once this exercise has been mastered it provides confidence for the client and assists in making harder tasks easier to grasp.

This video empahsises how important your hands are in everyday tasks and how difficult life is when they are not working to thier full capacity. It also provides a good example of numerous activities that can be used in hand therapy. Although it does also include other areas of Occupational Therapy it provides a great quote at the beginning of the video which I think is very appropriate to hand therapy.

"Man, thorugh the use of his hands

as they are energized by mind and will

can influence the state of his own health"

- MARY REILLY                                

           

This video demonstrates another point that I learnt while spending time in hand therapy on placement. It is very interesting and something that can be carried at home so the client can speed up their recovery if followed correctly. It is very interesting as it shows how the brain can influence the recovery of a client.

Technology and OT education

Here is a clip that I found on youtube. It is very interesting. It proves technology is great for communication and education - although the technology in this clip isn't working very well. Take a look it is worthwhile. This is only the first part (the others can be reached using the links on youtube).

Occupational Therapy Group Video - interesting

Here is a video that I found on youtube. It has been created by a group sending an interesting message about Occupational Therapy. Its worth a watch.

Tutorial Four

Tutorial Four

Creating our own Occupational Therapy video was interesting. We were split into groups and told to make videos that combined occupational therapy and our own interests. Our group struggled to come up with an idea that could be produced in such a short time with limited resources. We decided to follow the theme of drinking responsibly and making it more interesting by incorporating our own thoughts around drinking in Dunedin.

Our video took a while to complete because we had never used the video programme before and we needed to edit it so it could be completed. Although our video fits in more with our interests rather than occupational therapy, it has taught me a lot bout planning and creating videos. I think so will be very useful for future studies and practice. Here is our video in the following post.....

Tutorial Three

I have now created a flickr account and added some pictures. They are shown on the side of my blog. Here is my favourite. It is a picture of myself and family on our farm, standing far from a bonfire - due to the heat - at night time.



Tutorial Two

Digital images can be stored in a number of ways. The most common forms of storage are in computer files, photo disks, or on camera memeroy cards. As these forms of storage are not always reliable, it is very common that digital images are saved on numerous storage devices. This then allows more memories to be kept in a more affordable way.

Software that I use daily and are most familiar with is itunes and Microsoft programmes such as word. These softwares are easy to use and have only been slightly modified over the years. Therefore, it is easy to continue using them when I have updated to newer versions in the past. Hardware that i am very familiar with is my USB flash drive, and of course my laptop and printer that I am constantly using for my studies.

Digital Cameras

Digital cameras are the most common form of cameras these days and can be used for still pictures and videos. The camera below is an example of a basic digital camera sold ny the popular brand Kodak. It is very common for digital cameras to be created to target a certain age or group of individauls. This is done through colour, size, simple usage and extra benefits such as being waterproof.

Retrieved March 28, 2011 from http://www.bidjeeto.com/auctions/view/80

Retrieved March 28, 2011 from http://www.nigel-roberts.info/photography.htm

The above camera is one of the first models introduced by kodak. It is one of my favourite cameras as they are very rarely used now. However, they are very popular for collectors and some photographers. I have a collection of old cameras and the Six-20 Brownie C camera shown above is in the best condition and is still usable. This link is an example of a manaul explaining how to use the Six-20 Brownie C and D models.

Video Cameras

Video cameras are used to capture motion pictures. They were first developed in the 1930s and have become increasingly popular since then. Video cameras are now used alongside many other devices such as cellphones and itunes. This allows the user to capture memorable moments that they can easily acess, save, transfer, revisit or delete. The picture below is an example of four devices that can capture videos that a commonly used today.

Retreived March 28, 2011 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10296694-52.html

“A new technology is rarely superior to an old one in every feature”

There is often discussions around whether new or old technologies are superior in areas such as performance, personal preference, quality and significance of memories. Personally, I enjoy how acessable and easy digital cameras are to use. Digital cameras also allow many pictures to be kept and shared with others. However, I aslo find this to be a weakness of new technology. In the past pictures fewer pictures were taken and have been passed on and treasured as each picture holds value and meaning. Another reason that I find old cameras to be special is the way they were cared for. These days it is common for cameras to break easily, and because they are so accessible another, often improved version is bought as a replacement. I believe this is influencing camera owners to forget how special technologicy and instead they are expecting easy access to new and improved models. The importance of memories is also being lost as pictures are distributed on the internet for all to see, rather than having one copy of each image. This is also causing problem with privacy as pictures are often distributed innapropriately. Here is one of my favourite family pictures.

Lastly, digital images can be used positively in Occupational Therapy Practice. Images can be used to show a visable condition, the progress of an individual, housing modifications, and equipment that are or can be used. These points can be helpful for a number of reasons. They can be used for others to refer to, give a clear understanding, and assist in note taking or further OT intervention.