More about CENT - Principles of Controlled Eccentric Neuromuscular Training.

Now to the meat...

CENT stands for Controlled Eccentric Neuromuscular training. It is partly because the acronym spells something that it was chosen. It will stick in your head and make writing about it easier. (See "Introducing DAP notes" article for some of my views on acronyms.)

Guiding Principles:

Switching between agonist / antagonist muscle actions takes time, effort and is not necessary to start.

The Flexor Synergy exists for a very good reason, if you're a caveman...

Praxis is the key to purposeful movement.

"The more you do the more you can do" (a basic Functional Therapy tenent that applies here too).

Next time we'll break these out a little.


Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT
President of the League of Functional Therapists, LLC.

Introducing CENT - Controlled Eccentric Neuromuscular Training.

Today I am introducing CENT - Controlled Eccentric Neuromuscular Training. Over the next few days I will give you more information about this marvelous treatment option I am exploring and developing. I will tell you the foundational tenents of CENT in a moment but first a bit of history.

I desperately want to give credit where it is due... but I can't find that person. Instead I will tell you a brief story and maybe you can help.

About 5 years ago we had a Physical Therapist from India come to our facility. While transitioning and looking to finish requirements to allow her to be licensed here she volunteered on Bridgeport Hospital's Acute Rehabilitation Unit in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Her name was Priti or Preeti. If you read this or know Priti please contact me at RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com.

Priti gave a presentation on a paper she had read that she said came out of Australia. From this she identified several things, and I have refined those into this this:

• Work on movements opposite to abnormal synergies (the flexor synergy in the arm).
• Overflow movements or movements outside of the specific action you want should be discouraged and stopped.
• Eccentric muscle actions are often first to recover.
• Work on one muscle action eccentrically and concentrically to keep the patient's focus on a single effort.
• Any muscle action could be your starting point. Just get some success.

Using this on many patients and experimenting in light of other observations I have about stroke I have come to the synthesis known as CENT. I know that the novel direction this has taken would not have occuring without Preeti. Unfortunately I can't find any papers from Australia or elsewhere about this approach. If you read this and think it is referring to something you had heard, read or done I would love to hear about it. Also, if you'd like to collaborate on this and develop your own skills please contact me.

I will give you the meat of this great technique over the next week.

Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT
President of the League of Functional Therapists

"Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy."

www.FunctionalTherapist.org

Online Meetings And The Next Wave Of Innovation!

The League of Functional Therapists (LOFT) is an international organization. Communicating with diverse people over vast distances is one of our key business needs. A phone is an essential tool, the internet and email have been remarkable enablers... and now online meeting has the potential to be a revolution.

As part of our business software we have a subscription to GoToMeeting. This Citrix product allows up to 16 people to be on a conference call (as a phone call or as Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)) and all looking at the same screen. Any attendee's screen can be viewed and or, with your permission, completely controlled. Is this functionality worth less than $50/month? It is to me.

I have met with people all over. I have used this in my work to avoid a long walk, kept all my tools and materials on hand, solved a problem in 2-5 minutes and gone on to do other things. With a software developer we designed together as he taught me what he was doing. With family we have met and planned together and shared photos.

Oh, by the way, the distance is not required... we could do this in the same room too, a few laptops in a conference room and an old fashioned meeting turns into generating work. These capabilities are incredible.

Why then does it seem so routine to people I introduce it to? I have them go to a site (JoinGoToMeeting.com) and put in a meeting number. The program downloads a little file to let it run on your system and the person is asked to put in their name and email address. Then, suddenly, we are meeting together. Instead of talking or planning and sending someone off to do it and report back later, we are able to finish the project in real time together. Just because it's easy doesn't mean it's routine. Can you imagine the possibilities?

If you're an Occupational Therapist and you want know more about our organization we want to talk with you. We can set up a meeting anywhere in the world. So far the farthest East is London, England and farthest West is Queensland, Australia. We want people to understand our mission and objectives and sometimes it takes a guided tour.

So far we have met with supporters and detractors. It is incredible to problem solve together with supporters and it is remarkably inciteful to get feedback from detractors. There is so much that we can learn together.

Set up a meeting with us, learn about the League of Functional Therapists and get to try out GoToMeeting. Contact me at EdKaine@FunctionalTherapist.org.

I'm looking forward to meeting with you.

Yours,


Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT
President of the League of Functional Therapists

"Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy."

Survey Results Are In - Very Encouraging! A Little Statistical Background.

Over the last few weeks we have been trialing and tailoring our survey. I'd like to thank all the people who helped us by taking the survey. In the end we had a very good tool that participants praised as interesting and enjoyable.

Someday I'll tell you about our $49 lesson but right now I'll tell you of ALOFT's wonderful success.

First, a bit of statistical background. In order to make our survey results as generalizable to the public as we could we sought to have a stratified random sample. The factors we decided on were that we could accept a 5% error rate in the responses. Also we wanted a 95% confidence level, or only a 5% possibility that the results could be due to chance. We set our expected variance to require the maximum number of responses by setting it to 50% (as in equal chance a subject would pick one or the other). Then we wanted to generalize this to the population of the U.S.A. These mean that we would have a sample that would cover 304 Million (as of summer 2008) so we added many more and found we could cover the world's population with 385 subjects.

Then again we were only sampling people in the U.S.A. so we can really only generalize to the U.S.A. We went with the higher number to allow internally guided exclusion criteria and sampling methods to allow exclusion from certain aspects of the study based on background factors.

In the end we had 500 completed surveys with 87 partially completed or eliminated due to just randomly hitting the keyboard rather than answering. So, of the 500 we confirmed many of the intuitions we had had and learned several new and supportive things that we had been unable to quantify.

So far it is saying to us at ALOFT "keep going, this can be a very helpful and positive thing." We had several criteria for the study that would have indicated that we were on the wrong track, none of those were evident. We will be sharing different results from the study as we go along.

If you are interested in this data we are interested in sharing it with you in a meeting. We can setup online meetings if you would like to delve further into any results.

Look for our results in the coming days and weeks.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFT
Member and President of ALOFT

RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com

How Language May Shape Our Thoughts.

Please check out this article in the July 9, 2009 Newsweek. What’s in a Word? Language may shape our thoughts. By Sharon Begley It has some very interesting insights into language and how people think about things.


I previously discussed this topic related to the use of our title, in particular asking whether we should use the O-Word (Occupation). The answer was and is, "yes". It allows us to expand the way we think about function. However; with this is a warning that the meaning of this word for most people is not what it is for an Occupational Therapist. What about the O-word?

The challenge is open to try to expand the definition of Occupation. It does not appear that this will be possible in this year or in the next few. I discussed this with a representative of Mirriam Webster's Dictionary and it was not possible. Let's get our definition in the Dictionary!


What does this mean for us? To me it means we need to consider the words we use to promote our profession and that it does matter whether people understand the word we are using.

With only a very limited definition of Occupation available to people how can we blame them for not understanding. It is up to us to reach out to the people. We can do this by using words that have positive meaning and capture the essence of what we do.

In the word "Functional" we have the basic idea of the way we work. We structure our treatments with a focus on the function task you must do. This may involve addressing the cognitive skills, the physical skills, the motivational and social skills that go into the task. Then the functional task itself, be it work, self care or leisure, is can be the focus of our treatment. It is the emphasis on doing something functional (not just fixing the structure) that Occupational Therapy has brought to the world. By using the protected title of Registered Functional Therapist we can more clearly help people understand how we can help them.

Functional versus Occupational on the Visual Thesaurus

It's something to think about.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFT
President of the League of Functional Therapists

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

ALOFT Sponsors A Survey Of Health Care.

In our pursuit of real information about the state of understanding of various healthcare fields ALOFT has sponsored a survey. It is a general health care information survey and we would like you to take it.

There are 3 arms of the study and each will be handled differently (statistically speaking). We have a randomly selected group which is a stratified sample that may give us the best picture of the general population. There are particular people we have requested to take the survey and there's you. You represent the cutting edge of thought and the awareness of technology and the markets.

Please take our survey to help us tailor our services and positively influence health care.

Please follow this link here:
http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?C3E78B97C2819291

Thank you so much for your input. We appreciate your opinion and support.

Thanks so much,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFT
President of ALOFT

P.S. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please send them to us at ALOFTSurveys@gmail.com

A gift in a question... what have you always wanted to do?

We have long had "Patient Goals" on all our assessment documentation. We always ask patients what they want to acheive in their therapy. As an OT and RFT we would still get the most common answer "I want to be able to walk." Instead of ever being discouraged by this response (and especially if ambulation seemed like a distant possibility) I would try to get the functional aspects of why the patient wants to walk. The patient's goal would rapidly become "to be able to walk into the kitchen and make myself a sandwich" or up to "walk into the woods to sit by a stream". Then if ambulation was a long way off I'd see if there were a way to meet the functional need from another level, hence independent at wheelchair level could be more palatable. Again, if ambulation was appropriate and the functional barrier to the goal, it has always seemed that functional mobility is right up OT's alley.

I was reading a thread on the OTNow list about a particular patient's goals when I recalled an old lesson that I have incorporated many times since. When the patient cannot come up with any goal, or only states a raw task like walking with no functional reason for it, I've asked the more "bucket list" type question. "What is something you always wanted to do?" It had been put to me in university as "what is something you've always wanted to do before you die?" I haven't always used the weight of "before you die" but having it in my mind keeps me focused on what I want them to think about. What a gift if we can get someone out of ruminating on the physical limitations and seeing the possibilities.

In particular this has played out in patients with paraplegia/quadriplegia. Where the "I just want you to get me walking again!" can really turn into a new and positive direction if we open up this type of conversation. Also, having it can remind people that they always wanted to play an instrument or write a book.

We have so much to offer, sometimes it may just be a simple question that helps someone think about a future that isn't dealing with an acute illness or injury.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFT
President of the League of Functional Therapists
http:www.FunctionalTherapist.org

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

A link to a nice summary of the SOAP note along with a comment from me about DAP notes.

http://metaot.com/quick-notes-note-writing-in-soap-notes#comment-29656

It's a nice article, very useful. The following was my explanation of the DAP note:

What do you think of DAP notes?

Our Inpatient Rehab has been using them for a long time and the Acute Rehab in the Hospital has been for about a year. It essentially melds the S and the O into a D... for DATA.

The DAP note then mixes the subjective comment into the objective thing you are saying. Here's an extreme example (for effect):

S: Patient states "It hurts." Patient states, "that feels better." Patent states, "I don't feel too good."

O: Patient reported pain on deep palpation of supraspinatus. Patient performed pendulum exercises followed by reaching and placing cans with internal and external rotation at abdomen level with relief noted above. Patient vomited right after they said line 3 above.

Instead of

Data: Patient reported pain on deep palpation of supraspinatus. Patient stated, "It's hurts." Patient performed pendulum exercises followed by reaching and placing cans with internal and external rotation at abdomen level, when asked how it felt patient stated "That feels better." On performance of a follow up deep palpation patient became pale, stated "I don't feel too good." and vomited.

Again, an extreme example, but it might help to anchor the benefit of the alternative note structure. DAP might not spell something that we wash with but it is useful. I contend that S and the O are only broken out that way because they spell SOAP... Does anyone know the history?

A and P (Assessment and Plan are the exact same as in the SOAP format). So it's:

D: Data

A: Assessment

P: Plan

Hope this helps in the pursuit of the perfect note.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFTPresident of the League of Functional Therapists

Website: http://www.functionaltherapist.org/

Blog: http://www.registeredfunctionaltherapist.blogspot.com/

email: RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

Crucial Converstations Training being considered for League of Functional Therapists

Over the last 30 years an innovative company call Vital Smarts has done research to find skills for exceptional communication. It has been applied in particular to Health Care in several settings. At Maine General Hospital they found that the training alone improved care.

Check out: Crucial Conversations® Training Improves Patient Safety at Maine Healthcare System http://www.vitalsmarts.com/userfiles/File/pdf/case_studies/mainegeneral_health.pdf

Just by taking this training their hospital improved in all the following ways.

They took the training across the board and they saw massive improvements.

What could you do if you were a better communicator? How would your health care facility improve? How would your relationships in your work and in your life improve? Who wouldn't be better if they were better able to hold conversations where emotions were strong?

These skills are skills for life. We are considering offering this course for practicing and non-practicing RFT and RFTAs, and our supporter members. This may be in mid 2010 depending on interest. To let you know, the course could cost $995 is you were just taking this training. However; since you are members or considering membership we should be able to significantly reduce that price. We are in dialogue about it currently with Vital Smarts team.

We are very excited about the prospect of offering these life changing lessons to our membership. Let us know what you think about it.

Please check out http://www.vitalsmarts.com/ and http://www.vitalsmarts.com/crucialconversationstraining.aspx?id=frombanner to get more information on these exciting courses.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFT

President of the American League of Functional Therapists

RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

Early physical and occupational therapy in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients: a randomised controlled trial

This is a very important article for patients anticipating or recovering from ICU stays. In this randomized controlled clinical trial, Occupational And Physical Therapists took ventillated patients through a course of functional tasks. In the process they had a trememdous impact on patient's lives.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)60658-9/fulltext

This shows that it is not just about surviving. Healthcare has the technology to save your life, but it's therapy, and particularly "Functional Therapy", that cares about getting you back to a life of purpose and meaning.

Congratulations to the excellent teams at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago and University of Iowa. The effort to take and confirm scientifically things we know (or think we know) intuitively is very appreciated.

Go Therapy, even in this critical and frightening time in a person's life, the worry that you are too sick to do therapy is turned on it's head. You might be too sick not to do therapy.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR, RFT
President of the American League of Functional Therapists
http://www.functionaltherapist.org/

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

Change... the easy path.

We were having a meeting the other day about how to increase the awareness of Functional Therapy and get more OTs and COTAs to join. We got to talking about how difficult change is. Lindsay Neumann, RFT, said, "Sometimes it's just easier to go along the way that things are. Most times actually."

Well it didn't take long for it to come around to how difficult it has been for each of us to be Occupational Therapists. There were a cascade of difficulties:

1. To learn about the profession in time to choose it as a career - Very Difficult.
2. To explain to your family what you were studying - Very very difficult... because you barely knew yourself.
3. Graduating, finding a job. Not too difficult... because so many people were beat by #1. Therefore there is a huge shortage of OTs. Easy to find job, but...
4. Staffing for OTs is largely influenced by the difficulty that upper administration has in understanding what OT might do. Incredibly difficult.
5. Then, let's mention the many discussions you'll have trying to explain OT. Difficult but fun.
6. Then, your ears perk up when someone says Occupation or Occupational and you wonder if they are talking about anything related to your profession. They aren't. Our definition still hasn't got into the dictionary - difficult.
7. Then you do this for year after year... it was so much more fun when I started. Difficult.
8. Then you get involved with a group who wants to provide an alternative name and change is difficult.

So, the only thing that would have made this easier would have been to do something about it 89 years ago, or 8 or 9 years ago. There is no time like the present. Make the change now and maybe we'll get past some of this stuff.

Please check us out at www.FunctionalTherapist.org and look at joining us. And if you're already a member let's get to work popularizing Functional Therapy.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT

President of the American League of Functional Therapists

Contact us at: RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com

Suffolk News-Herald | Occupational therapy a vital healthcare link

Suffolk News-Herald | Occupational therapy a vital healthcare link

Shared via AddThis

We are opening up Comments as of June 4th, 2009.

I was asked if I would consider opening comments up on our Blog. We talked about it and here it is.

As a trial of the commenting process we are looking to see what you think about our content. You can go back to former articles and post comments or you can just use this feature going forward.

We have a lot we'd like to say and we'd like to hear it in a public forum too. Please be open and courteous. A differing opinion is just that. It is really an opportunity to learn more about another person's perspective.

As always, you can email us directly at RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com or check us out at www.FunctionalTherapist.org. Thank you for all your support so far.

Yours,

Ed Kaine
President of The American League of Functional Therapists

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

The Challenge: Let's get our definition in the dictionary!

I am an Occupational Therapist and a Registered Functional Therapist. I believe that Functional Therapy will be the best name going forward in terms of helping people to understand what we might be able to do.

I claimed in my last post that our definition was not in the dictionary. Here is a snapshot of Definitions of Occupational and Occupation.

This is the Date: June 2nd, 2009.

Here is the challenge:
Can we get a good definition of Occupation and Occupational into the Dictionary?

Steps:

1. Let's get a definition we are happy with. Send your ideas to OccupationDefinition@gmail.com. (Maybe even for glorious prizes... yet to be determined.)
2. Let's figure out a way to get it in the dictionary. Again, ideas to OccupationDefinition@gmail.com. Maybe you have a friend at Webster's, we need your help.
3. Let's get it into the Dictionary! (Let's do it by December 31st, 2009!)

Here is what we start with for Occupational:

oc⋅cu⋅pa⋅tion⋅al   /ˌɒkyəˈpeɪʃənl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ok-yuh-pey-shuh-nl] Show IPA Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
–adjective
1. of or pertaining to an occupation, trade, or calling: occupational guidance.
2. of or pertaining to occupation: occupational troops.
Origin: 1840–50; occupation + -al 1 Related forms:
oc⋅cu⋅pa⋅tion⋅al⋅ly, adverb

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth EditionCopyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

oc·cu·pa·tion·al (ŏk'yə-pā'shə-nəl) adj. Of, relating to, or caused by engagement in a particular occupation: occupational hazards.oc'cu·pa'tion·al·ly adv.




WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
occupational
adjective
of or relating to the activity or business for which you are trained; "occupational hazard"

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Main Entry: oc·cu·pa·tion·alPronunciation: "äk-y&-'pA-shn&l, -sh&n-&lFunction: adjective: relating to or being an occupational disease —oc·cu·pa·tion·al·ly /-E/ adverb

Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

And todays definition of "Occupation":


occupation

Dictionary: oc·cu·pa·tion (ŏk'yə-pā'shən)
n.
An activity that serves as one's regular source of livelihood; a vocation.
An activity engaged in especially as a means of passing time; an avocation.
The act or process of holding or possessing a place.
The state of being held or possessed.
Invasion, conquest, and control of a nation or territory by foreign armed forces.
The military government exercising control over an occupied nation or territory.
[Middle English occupacioun, from Old French occupacion, from Latin occupātiō, occupātiōn-, from occupātus, past participle of occupāre, to occupy. See occupy.]

Business Dictionary: Occupation
Trade, job, business, or vocation of an individual. An occupation is the principal means by which one earns a livelihood.
Thesaurus: Occupation
noun
Activity pursued as a livelihood: art, business, calling, career, craft, employment, job, line, métier, profession, pursuit, trade, vocation, work. Slang racket. Archaic employ. See action/inaction.
The holding of something, such as a position: incumbency, occupancy, tenure. See place.

Antonyms: occupation
n
Definition: profession, businessAntonyms: entertainment, fun, hobby, pastimen
Definition: seizure, takeoverAntonyms: giving up, surrender, yielding

US Military Dictionary: Occupation
n. the action, state, or period of occupying or being occupied by military force: the Roman occupation of Britain crimes committed during the Nazi occupation.
See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Occupation (of Japan)
(1945 – 52) Military occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers after its defeat in World War II. Theoretically an international occupation, in fact it was carried out almost entirely by the U.S. under Gen. Douglas MacArthur. During the Occupation period, Japanese soldiers and civilians from abroad were repatriated to Japan, arms industries were dismantled, and political prisoners were released. Wartime leaders stood trial for war crimes, and seven were executed. A new constitution, vesting power in the people, replaced the Meiji Constitution; in it Japan renounced its right to wage war, the emperor was reduced to ceremonial status, and women were given the right to vote. The Occupation administration also carried out land reform, reducing the number of farmers who were tenants from 46% to 10%, and began the breakup of the zaibatsu (business conglomerates). Labour unions were initially encouraged, but as fears of leftist organizations grew with the advent of the Cold War, stronger governmental control of labour was supported. The education system, seen as elitist, was revised to resemble the U.S. system. Though the U.S. wanted to end the Occupation in 1947, the Soviet Union vetoed a peace treaty with Japan; a treaty was signed in 1951, and the Occupation ended the following year.
For more information on Occupation (of Japan), visit Britannica.com.

Word Tutor: occupation
IN BRIEF: A person's profession. The first step toward success in any occupation is to become interested in it. — Sir William Osler (1849-1919), Canadian physician, M.D., teacher, medical historian.

Quotes About: Occupation
Quotes: "Occupation is the scythe of time." - Napoleon Bonaparte"Monotony is the law of nature. Look at the monotonous manner in which the sun rises. The monotony of necessary occupation is exhilarating and life giving." - Mahatma Gandhi"My mother has always been unhappy with what I do. She would rather I do something nicer, like be a bricklayer." - Mick Jagger"It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquillity and occupation which give happiness." - Thomas JeffersonQuotes about Occupation supplied by Quotations Book.-->

Wikipedia: Occupation

Look up occupation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Occupation may refer to:
In business:
Employment, a person's job or work in service of an employer
Profession, an occupation requiring specialized knowledge
Vocation, an occupation pursued more for altruistic benefit rather than for income
Career, a person's occupational history
Day job, an occupation solely for income, while pursuing another preferred career track
List of occupations
Standard Occupational Classification System, developed and used by the U.S. government
Occupational prestige, the relative esteem in which a particular job is held
Occupational therapy, assisting people who have difficulty performing occupational functions
Occupational science, the study of humans as occupational beings
Occupational disease, chronic ailment resulting from work
Occupational crime, opportunistically committed in the course of legal occupation
In a military context:
Military occupation, control of a territory by a military force
Law of occupation, portions of the law of war which relate to military occupation
List of military occupations, notable historical instances of military occupation
In film and television:
Occupation 101, a 2006 documentary film about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Occupation: Dreamland, a 2006 documentary film about the Iraq War
Occupation (TV serial), a 2009 television serial about the Iraq War
Occupation Double, a Canadian reality television show
"Occupation" (Battlestar Galactica), an episode in the third season
In music:
Occupation: Foole, a comedy album by George Carlin
"The Beautiful Occupation", a song by the band, Travis
Other meanings:
Occupation (protest), the temporary forceful occupation of a building, space or symbolic site
Occupancy, use of a building for shelter or support of persons, animals, or property

Translations: Occupation Top
Home > Library > Literature & Language > Translations
Dansk (Danish)n. - beskæftigelse, erhverv, besiddelse, besættelse, indtagelseadj. - beskæftigelses-
Nederlands (Dutch)bezigheid, beroep, bezetting, occupatie, inbezitneming, bewoning, activiteit, bezettings-
Français (French) n. - occupation, installation, (Mil, Pol) occupation (de), métier, profession, activité de loisiradj. - d'occupation
Deutsch (German) n. - Beschäftigung, Beruf, Tätigkeit, Besetzung, Besitz, Besatzungadj. - Beschäftigungs...
Ελληνική (Greek) n. - κατάληψη, κτήση, κατοχή, απασχόληση, ασχολία, επάγγελμα, επιτήδευμα, εργασία, κατοίκηση, ενοίκηση
Italiano (Italian) occupazione, presa di possesso, mestiere, professione, presa
Português (Portuguese) n. - ocupação (f), profissão (f)
Русский (Russian) занятие, оккупация
Español (Spanish) n. - ocupación, quehacer, actividad, entretenimiento, profesión, oficio, vocación, habitación, residenciaadj. - relacionado con o perteneciente a la ocupación o actividad
Svenska (Swedish) n. - sysselsättning, yrke, ockupation, besittning, inflyttning
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified)) 职业, 占有期间, 占有, 职业的
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional)) n. - 職業, 佔有期間, 佔有adj. - 職業的
한국어 (Korean) n. - 직업, 점유adj. - 점유하는, 직업적인
日本語 (Japanese) n. - 職業, 何かすること, 時間の使い方, 占有, 居住, 占領
العربيه (Arabic) ‏(الاسم) احتلال, مهنه‏
עברית (Hebrew) n. - ‮כיבוש, השתלטות, ישיבה, דיירות, תפיסה, חזקה, עיסוק, החזקה, מקצוע, עבודה, תעסוקה‬adj. - ‮לשימוש הבלעדי של המחזיקים בקרקע שמדובר בה‬

American Sign Languagecommtechlab.msu.edu

So, that is our starting point. I don't know if you agree that it's not defined in these dictionary samples. For me the definition of OT as "assisting people who have difficulty performing occupational functions" doesn't cut it because we already know that will lead to the "vocational" conversion. Mind you, I'm glad it says "functions". Go ahead and check now because the American League of Functional Therapists is seeking to have a working definition within 7 months... by the end of 2009.

So sharpen up your pencils or grab a definition from your college days. You just may be the one who's words grace the pages of history.

We believe in this concept of Occupation, people want to understand. We can help them.

Thank you so much for participating. I'll keep you updated here as to how we are coming along on the project.

Yours,

Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT
President of the American League of Functional Therapists


Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

email: RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com
Check out: http://www.functionaltherapist.org/

The Argument for "Functional Therapy"... straight from the Visual Thesaurus.

This post seeks simply to show how far we have (or have not) come in getting our definition of Occupation out to the rest of the world.

Also, let's consider which word we want to be expanding the definition of?

Hmmm... not too much there.... How about Occupation?

Okay... that's pretty convincing. We are alone in our definition.

But what are the alternatives?

Oh, Functional.


Not bad huh?

So, there you have it! What more needs to be said?

It is clear that we still have something to offer the world in terms of an understanding of how Functional Therapy (or Occupational Therapy) can help the world. We may even find that we help expand the definition of function and introduce people to an alternative definition of Occupation once we gain that trust and understanding.

I'd rather be expanding the definition of "Function" than working too hard at changing people's minds about what "Occupation" can be.

What do you think?

Yours,

Ed Kaine

President of the American League of Functional Therapists

http://www.functionaltherapist.org/

Comments?: Contact us at RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy.

10 Reasons OT should embrace Functional Therapy

10. "Functional" has a lot of meaning that is in line with the purpose and method of OT.

9. The Canadian Occupational Performance Model (COPM) is arguably the most comprehensive and holistic model of function ever devised. It is a cornerstone of OT thought and ought to be more widely known.

We have a holistic vision of the physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects of our patients along with our understanding about how the context of a life influences a person's function. We are uniquely able to seek new ways for our patients to achieve balance in the functional things they do.

8. "Occupational" holds the 2 main meanings in modern the vernacular of "related to jobs" or "relating to military occupation". Neither of these pertain to the work OT does.

7. The meaning of Occupation as it relates to OT makes a lot of sense to the many OTs only. It has not caught on in the ~250 years of its use. Function has a meaning in line with our expertise.

6. OT is an older field than Physical Therapy, yet we trail in almost every area. Some could argue that the misunderstanding of the word Occupation is a barrier to the success of our profession.

5. The Registered Functional Therapist RFT (and the Registered Functional Therapy Associate RFTA) credential is additive to your status as an OTR (or COTA). For those patients and customers who prefer the term OT your still can use it.

4. It's inexpensive and easy to become an RFT or RFTA and you are a part of an organization striving to help your profession.

3. And it just might help to popularize a field that some say might be superceded even in "Function" by other rehabilitation disciplines in the coming decades.

2. As the rest of the rehabilitation disciplines do expand into the realm of function, we should not fight it. It is what we so furvently believe in. We should embrace their pursuits and see where we can help them to improve function more effectively. It does not have to be a competition... unless we want to settle for scraps. We can lead this revolution of function.

1. We have the most right to this honorable title and the opportunity to provide care under the name of "Functional Therapy". It is legally protected for the current and future practitioners of Occupational Therapy.

We want and need your support as members. We need to hold the opportunity that ALOFT has opened for us and use it to popularize traditional OT services so that we may be available to provide this care for generations to come.

Please join with us in this worthy effort.

Sincerely,

Ed Kaine
President of the American League of Functional Therapists

http://www.functionaltherapist.org/

Comments?: Contact us at RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com


Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!

I like Functional Therapy, but do we have to stop using the O-Word?

“All words are pegs to hang ideas on.”

Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth, Pulpit, 1887

_____

So my answer to this is an emphatic: NO! I personally like the word "Occupation."

We have a great word, a great concept. The word “Occupation” helps us as OTs expand the thoughts we have about what function can be. It took us years of training to get this insight.

But then again…

It took us years of training to get this insight!

The other day I was discussing the tremendous experience that going to school to learn Occupational Therapy had been. In many ways we didn’t notice the subtle indoctrination we were undergoing. It was very persuasive because it is an excellent way of looking at the world. We came out of the experience different people. We share a broadened understanding of humanity and holistic approaches to health care. I could never go back to being who I was before.

Now as ALOFT tries to lead us to the opportunity to use the term “Functional Therapy” we have many people asking us if we want to stop using the “O-Word.” How could we stop?

“To expand language is to expand our ability to think.” (David G. Myers, Exploring Psychology.) In this case by seeking to expand the discussion around a novel word the people who were trained in the use of the word gained a level of deeper understanding. These people, the Occupational Therapists, are some of the most interesting, broad minded people I have ever met. It comes partly from the language we learned to describe what it is to live.

So why change and use function?

Most people are not going to go to school for 6 years to get a Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy. It is the rare few who choose this path. Everyone else uses common language to talk about what they want and what they need.

For example, today, pharmaceutical companies are marketing directly to the public. Patients go to their doctors asking for “the purple pill” and drugs like “Lipitor”TM have more brand recognition than Occupational Therapy. How can this be? We’ve been around longer than Physical Therapy, but we are barely clutching PT’s coat tails in most health care sectors.

I am asking you to look at the word from the point of view of a typical patient. A typical person. What do they think they know about Occupation… what do they know about Function? Maybe we can make the in-roads after we make the first contact. Lets get the patients in the door and then we can help them broaden their understanding of function… and soon after that we can teach them more about Occupation.

We have a great product! Occupational Therapy services are wonderful the world round. But while we are trying to compete we should look at what would help us place ourselves better in the marketplace.

In University I took a class in the “History of Medicine.” Our professor asked us to look at the funny treatments of the past with a different question “Why would people believe that X was a good idea?” There was a time when bloodletting to let off an imbalance of your humors was state of the art. What questions will we be asking this about in our era.

Another gem from that same class was a different look at the “Hippocratic Oath.” Our professor introduced this as a membership document that essentially guaranteed the long term success of Medicine. If you read the writings of Hippocrates you will find an ancient marketing plan. Look around at its success, almost 2500 years later and it is well established.

It is with the utmost respect for the profession and the professionals who practice OT that we at the American League of Functional Therapists are attempting this change. It is with a desire to help more patients, clients and consumers find purpose in their lives that we seek to expand OT.

Lets work together to see this revival for the gifts of the Occupational Therapists. Please join us in the effort to popularize OT under the term “Functional Therapy.”

Sincerely,

Ed Kaine
President of the American League of Functional Therapists

http://www.functionaltherapist.org/
Comments?: Contact us at RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com

Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy

What a great career so far!

I have to say that becoming an Occupational Therapist was one of the best decisions of my life. What an amazing field. It really is tailored to those special people who see the world in the open way we do.

Occupational Therapists I've known are some of the most interesting, dynamic and creative people I've ever met. It was with the understanding that we were something special in healthcare that accounted for our value and place at the table. Still we struggled with the difficulty of being relatively unknown.

In conversations, where introductions turned to talk of careers, I am still surprised if someone has heard of Occupational Therapy and then more surprised if they have an understanding of what we can do. Many of those have a family member who is an OT. For the others I am always happy to explain the very important role we fill in the healthcare system and people feel my excitement at the potential of such a field. But still I wonder why these ideas have not caught on.

In many ways the ideas have caught on, PTs are writing functional notes and using simulated functional tasks to work on balance, etc. Recreational Therapists have added functional aspects to their care. I recently read a paper from the Netherlands which recommends a Functional Therapy program and describes it as PT with a "systematic application of functional physical therapy", check it out at (http://www.ptjournal.org/cgi/content/short/81/9/1534 ). The results showed that the physical performance was the same between groups but that the subjects of the "functional physical therapy" program were more able to do functional tasks. This type of paper might have been written 70 years ago by an OT.

It has been a long time since I and others have thought of this type of change. I wrote a paper for a Canadian Trade Journal for Occupational Therapists in 1995 suggesting that we change our name to Functional Therapy. It turns out that I have eventually taken my own advice to protect the name for those therapists who might wish to enhance their certification by qualifying for the additional designations of Registered Functional Therapist RFT (TM) or Registered Functional Therapy Assistant RFTA (TM). While explaining OT I've often given the 10 second version that we might be better called "Functional Therapists". It often suffices to give a better impression of the field without even going much further. Now we can and it's protected to members of our Trade Organization called the "American League of Functional Therapists" or "ALOFT".

I hope you will consider this as a positive step to enhance your own certification and to allow the use of the more easily understood term of Functional Therapy.

Respectfully yours, Ed Kaine, OTR/L, RFT

Registered Funcitonal Therapist RFT

http://www.functionaltherapist.org/

Comments?: Contact us at RegisteredFunctionalTherapist@gmail.com


Functional Therapy... the Next Generation of Occupational Therapy!