Lifeworks Occupational Therapy Blog

What drew you to become an OT assistant (OTA)? I actually became an OTA by accident. I knew I felt at ease talking to strangers and had an ability to gain people’s trust and would relax in my presence in a short period of time. I originally wanted to work with families dealing with the dying of a loved one, support and guide them through this process, but found that that role did not exist.  My Aunty has her PhD in Nursing and she suggested the idea of me becoming an OTA. I have also been exposed to many environments, different cultures, and personalities and I have learnt how to be flexible in working with all types of people so I knew something people-centred would be for me. I felt comfortable in my own abilities to facilitate an environment in which people benefit from therapeutic input with a purpose. What is the difference between an OT and an OTA? Occupational Therapy Assistants are the eyes and ears for the Occupational Therapis...

As we approach the end of OT Week, it is important to remember the health and well being of our wonderful Occupational Therapists. OTs as well as our valued fellow health care providers offer services where the central focus is on giving to others. The clients’ health and well being is at the core of what we do. So it is essential that we also remember the health and well being of OTs and our health colleagues, to assist them in their roles supporting people, families and communities. Achieving better health outcomes requires a healthy, resilient and dynamic workforce. My experience is working as an Occupational Therapist in the Mental Health sector. Working in this area of healthcare has its privileges. As workers we are invited into someone’s life and often their homes to accompany them on their personal journey for a period of time. Sometimes this is just for weeks or a few months but often we can be asked to be present in the person’s life for 12 months or more. Relationships are f...

If you are an NDIS participant, you may have encountered funding in the core budget of your NDIS plan something called Low Level Assistive Technology. Assistive technology can help us to improve our independence in daily tasks and may include items such as shower chairs, medication reminding devices, emergency/falls pendants, speech to text software, and adaptive kitchen equipment. The NDIS has guidelines as to what can be purchased with this low-level assistive technology funding. The items must meet the reasonable and necessary criteria, relate to your NDIS registered disability, is a low-risk item, and costs under $1500 for general items, or under $750 for an electronic device. If you are uncertain if an item can be purchased through this funding in your NDIS plan, discuss this with your Occupational therapist or Allied Health Professional. The NDIS do not typically fund items that everyone may need in their day-to-day life such as heating and cooling devices, or laptops, considerin...

What drew you to a career in occupational therapy? I was a huge science nerd in high school and was so fascinated in how the workings of the human body, mix this with a childhood heavy in high level sport and I was naturally led towards a career somewhere in the sport/ health sciences. It was actually my mum who suggested OT as she thought it would give me a wide range of avenues to go down whilst staying in the health realm and I am so happy she did otherwise I probably wouldn’t have ended up in OT- honestly I had no idea what an OT actually was or did (which is not uncommon as I’ve very quickly learnt). As a fresh OT I always thought I would work with elite athletes or in the sports space, but with my own life experiences and experiences with my clients I’ve found myself more and more interested in the relationship between mental and physical health which is how I ended up at Lifeworks OT working with clients with chronic conditions. What do you find the most rewarding part of your j...

Mental Health Week commences on the 9th of October and the focus is “Mental Health Starts with Our Children”. From the moment we are born we start developing our mental health and well being. I’ve been curious when speaking to people about the concept of infant mental health and interested that they have laughed. One response was “What can you do for a baby’s mental health?!… is that such a thing?” The profile of mental health has definitely expanded to include the infant, from the day they are born. When an adult interacts and responds to a baby and later as children, they are assisting them to develop important skills like coping with a range of emotions and stressful events in the present moment as well as into the future. A baby is hard wired for social connection, they love interacting and being acknowledged. Eye contact, touch including skin to skin contact, smiling, talking at their face level, singing, talking, reading out aloud are all important for a child’s brain develo...

In recent years, the importance of social connection has been highlighted through research that explored the impact of loneliness and isolation. Loneliness isn’t just about not being alone – it’s about the feeling of being alone. You could still have a lot of social contact with those around you, but you don’t feel understood or seen. Social isolation is different to this. It’s a lack of social connections entirely. Nonetheless, both loneliness and social isolation have significant health outcomes. Some of the recent research demonstrates that social isolation increases a person’s risk of premature death from all causes. When social isolation is compared with other life-limiting risk factors, such as smoking, it’s on par with the impact it can have on a person’s length and quality of life. If you have ever experienced loneliness or social isolation, you probably already know and have felt its impact on not only your physical health but also your mental health. A big part of our role as...

I’m sure we can all relate to feeling ‘butterflies in your stomach’ ‘skin crawling’ or ‘heart racing’ when we feel strong emotions like excitement, fear, or anxiety. All of these feelings are not a coincidence, they are all good examples of how our autonomic nervous system effects our physical health. So, what is our autonomic nervous system (ANS) and why does it matter? Our ANS’s job is to make sure we stay alive and controls all of our autonomic functions, things like our breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and libido. Because your ANS’s #1 goal it to keep you alive, it regulates your bodily functions based on whether or not it perceives you as being safe or in danger, a term that has been coined ‘neuroception’. Our ANS fluctuates between 3 different states of arousal depending on a neuroception of safety or danger. Our Social engagement state is active when our neuroception of safety is highest. In this state our body and nervous system are open to input, progres...

I recently spent five weeks working with a group of women experiencing Post Natal Depression and Anxiety. During this time I was reminded of the power of Gratitude. What is Gratitude? We all have times when we are aware of being thankful for a person, an experience, a situation. These moments give us a positive feeling and we call this “gratitude”. Feeling grateful can be a spontaneous expression of appreciation for what one has. It is also possible to cultivate gratitude, making a conscious effort to notice the goodness in life from the big things to the very little things. Just being around your family and friends can help you to feel more grateful. It might be that you feel thankful when waking up in bed and hearing the birds sing outside your window. What are the benefits? Studies have shown that feeling grateful can boost happiness, improving both physical and psychological health and well-being. We also know that good things we experience don’t tend to stick around in our minds a...

I still remember the day I was diagnosed with narcolepsy (a chronic sleep disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness) at the beginning of 2019. I remember sitting nervously while sitting in the waiting room for my results of my sleep study, I remember the shock and wanting to fight back tears when the practitioner labelled me with a life long medical condition, I remember feeling lost when given a script for medication with significant side effects and no other advice or resources, and I remember the frustration when trying to advocate for myself to employers, doctors, friends and family to make sure I got the support I needed. I needed a way to explain my support needs and I needed validation for what I was experiencing. That is how I discovered spoon theory. Spoon theory  is a metaphor that is used to describe the amount of mental or physical energy a person with a chronic illness or disability has available for daily activities and tasks. The theory was developed by Christine...

I am a big fan of Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, a science commentator, who regularly co-hosts a science talk-back show on youth radio station, Triple J. I often listen to the show when I am driving around town between clients and became excited when I finally knew the answer to a listener’s question! The question came from a mum who has a child on the autism spectrum. Her child had been prescribed a “sensory diet” by an occupational therapist to help her child “regulate their emotions” and focus on tasks. She wanted to know, what is sensory processing, and how does sensory input impact on function? What is Sensory Processing? We all know about the 5 main senses – touch, smell, vision, taste, and hearing, but what most of us don’t know is there are actually lots of different senses like pain, temperature, movement (vestibular), and body-awareness (proprioception). We are constantly interacting with the world through our senses and the type of sensory input we receive can have a significant effe...