10 Life Lessons I Learned as an Occupational Therapist: Part 2
“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.”
-Bertrand Russell
Every time I work with a patient I have the opportunity to be mindless and go through the motions, Like most things in life, choosing to be mindful and invest in the patient and the situation at hand always proves to be more fruitful.
Here is the second part (part 1 is here) of a series on life lessons I’ve learned in my career as an OT.
Occupational Therapy Life Lessons
1. The success of the intervention lies in the grading
Gradually upgrading and downgrading a task or skill to hit “the just-right challenge” is essential in life. This form of scaffolding is important for success. Failure and avoidance are quick to follow if the task is too difficult. If it’s too easy then boredom and a lack of competitive fire occur. Find the sweet spot in every challenge.
2. Everything lives on a spectrum
Our bodies are constantly regulating our internal systems for the homeostasis of glucose, electrolytes, blood pressure, body temperature, sodium, and pH levels among many others. Too high or too low for any of these and we’re dead.
In a worldly sense, the same thing applies. You can have too much or too little of anything–hope, fear, stress, movement, awareness, education, money, spatulas. Balance is key. Find it in every part of your life.
3. Retirement is a great predictor of health decline
Of course, retirement is correlated with age, and with more candles on the cake comes all of the associated ailments. But it’s not uncommon that I see patients hospitalized for heart disease, stroke, and the like about two years post-retirement, regardless of the age they retired.
Most of these people are the "I've worked all my life so I can sit on my butt" people and not the "I'm still working on my bucket list” people. I discussed this in a post here, as it relates to happiness.
Retire from a job, not from hobbies, socialization, or purpose.
4. Rapport trumps credentials
Degrees and certifications signify foundational learning at the core of occupational therapy or any other degree. . Today’s culture puts the initials after your name on a pedestal with a sense of respect that accompanies it.
In the face-to-face world of healthcare, these credentials are weak if the bedside manner is absent. Over time, a good therapeutic use of self leads to a good rapport which establishes trust. Trust is the foundation of influence and positively influencing others is a skill that can change a person’s life.
5. Purpose is power
During an evaluation, one of my patients said “I want to be able to pick up my son, change his diaper, and put him back in the crib without waking my wife.” Doesn’t sound too hard for the average dad, however, he had just lost most of the use of one side of his body.
He felt a purpose to do something deliberately and someone who comes to me with a detailed goal has a more defined purpose and is much more likely to ultimately leave rehab achieving their goal and fulfilling their purpose.
What is your purpose? What are the goals to achieve it?
6. Most people just want to be given a prescribed workout
They want a plan laid out in front of them as black and white as possible so that they can quickly knock it out and put the checkmark next to it. This isn’t always a suboptimal route but most of the time it’s avoiding easily tapping into someone’s potential.
Through plenty of trial and error, I’ve learned to tap into both autonomy and body awareness by giving patients instructions based on intuition once they are ready. “Do 3 reps short of failure with a smooth 2:1 eccentric to concentric ratio.” It doesn’t necessarily roll off the tongue but once I walk them through it with a single set, it sinks in.
“Failure” is considered anything that isn’t perfect form or full range of motion and going “short of failure” (a.k.a. reps in reserve) pushes them toward that strength phase of the movement with a lower risk of injury. Concentric is the shortening side of the movement and eccentric is the lengthening side of the movement.
Using these instructions improves proprioception, form, and buy-in, and it gives the patient the ability to think for themselves. They need to monitor resistance, intensity, and the coordination of the movement which leads to better results and the self-realization of the results. Otherwise, they’d only be putting a checkmark next to the 3x10 workout scheme for a few weeks before boredom and stagnation creep in.
True fitness is part physical demand and part body awareness of those demands. Train one with the other every time.
7. Behavioral science > rocket science
I once heard someone say “It’s not rocket science to change that habit.” The apt response was “Yeah, it’s tougher than rocket science it’s behavior science.”
The idea of change is simple and the plan is easy but the implementation is extremely difficult. Habits, routines, and rituals are a huge part of our lives. A sedentary life, a crappy diet, chronic stress, a lack of social support, and poor sleep hygiene are a recipe for mental and physical dysfunction.
Habits are the backbone of life. Change your life’s course by instilling good ones and killing bad ones.
8. Some things work for all humans, but not everything does
The six dimensions of health (nutrition, movement, stress management, sleep, mindset, and relationships) are the foundation of the reptilian brain. Beyond that, it's a crap shoot. One intervention or approach might have the optimal impact for Tim while it might have the opposite effect for Sam. Keep these six dimensions sacred and then just consider everything else.
Bonus: for more info on the dimensions, a test on where you stand, and ways to optimize them, subscribe to the newsletter for free information.
9. The toughest things to talk about tend to be the most important
Suicide, sex, addiction, and abuse. When patients hint at any of these it’s important to delve deeper. Their hint might be a cry for help. This goes for friends, family, and significant others as well.
10. Eye health is overlooked
Using our eyes to see may be one of the most complex things the human body does. It may also be one of the most important things we do. Yet we put sharp things near our eyes all of the time, we don’t wear protective glasses when we use machinery, and we stare at screens all day long. Vision impairments are directly linked to loss of independence.
Protect the eyes.
What life lessons have you learned in your career?
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