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Articles about access to Canadian healthcare that should concern everyone
I live in a border region and local health care folk frequently talk about Canadian medical tourism.  A week or so ago Buffalo Business First published this article about the increasing trend for our northern neighbors to cross the border for elective surgeries, emergency room visits, and diagnostic procedures in order to avert the long wait times that are commonly associated with the Canadian care system.http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2016/01/29/nearly-1-000-canadians-treated-at-wny-hospitals.htmlThe article discusses the issue from the grim perspective of how this is all a revenue opportunity for Western NY...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - February 11, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Tags: Disability rights health insurance OT practice Source Type: blogs

On retained primitive reflexes
Each year I receive several emails from colleagues about 'retained primitive reflexes.'  I am also seeing an increased number of reports from local 'health care' providers who are documenting these alleged problems so I thought I would write a summary of my opinion on this topic.  Predatory 'health care' providers including some OTs, PTs, chiropractors, and behavioral optometrists are creating a new 'market' for treating this alleged 'problem.'  Parents should be very wary of these practitioners and other professionals should challenge these practices whenever they are seen.The following is the kind of ...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 27, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Tags: evidence-based practice OT practice school-based practice sensory integration Source Type: blogs

Early intervention providers: Stop demanding more payment. Demand more freedom.
It is budget negotiation season in New York State, and you can tell this by the long line of elected municipal leaders and other special interests who get invited into budget hearings to beg for more funding.People who watch the process closely call this the 'tin cup brigade' and that is an apt description of the process even if it does ruffle the feathers of those in line.  Leading the line are the Counties and other municipalities who are forced to endure the unfunded mandates passed onto them by the State.  A prime example is the New York State Early Intervention Program.Funding the early intervention program ...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 27, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Tags: health insurance Source Type: blogs

How history repeats itself when we plan for OT Anniversaries!
Near the beginning of this series on the history of the occupational therapy profession I documented how many of the details about George Barton and Consolation House were beginning to fade.  A concerted effort near the 50th anniversary of the profession helped to preserve some memory and connection to Consolation House, but planning for this event was very complicated.I was excited today to hear that there was some beginning plans to commemorate the occupational therapy Centennial by having some ceremony or re-dedication plaque in Clifton Springs.  This is all in the beginning stages of planning, but it reminded...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - December 10, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: Barton history Source Type: blogs

Analysis of the AOTA claim of a gender-based wage gap in occupational therapy
The American Occupational Therapy Association recently publicized a claim that although 90.9% of respondents in their workforce survey were women that male practitioners make 14.7% more than women, despite setting, years of education, or position. They added the following editorial comments: "Want to earn what you deserve and be more confident? You don’t have to join the boys’ club or be aggressive."This is an interesting claim so I decided to research these statements and see if they could be validated.  Data on wage disparity was not previously collectible in OT because of low numbers of men responding to...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - November 25, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: history OT practice Source Type: blogs

Sad days
"Today is my sad day," stated Lauren, in a matter of fact tone.I work with many children who have superior language skills.  Often, those language skills outpace motor expression and emotional coping ability.  Sometimes doctors or psychologists call it a non-verbal learning problem or sometimes they will label it Asperger's Syndrome if the child has other behavioral quirks.  Either way, I am accustomed to hearing kids say things to me that would take the average listener off guard.Lauren was a quick-witted and confident child with uneven red bangs from her own attempts at hair-styling.  Besides those ba...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - November 17, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT stories Source Type: blogs

Thought exercise for occupational therapists
Thought exercise:Take special note of the 'Service to society' section [my emphasis added]. Are we still providing this service? Or are we now chasing some other objectives that are out of sync with this original intent? REPRINTED FROM:CAREERS FOR WOMEN EDITED BY CATHERINE FILENE THE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST MARJORIE B. GREENE Registrar, Boston School of Occupational Therapy Boston, 1920.  Description of occupation Occupational therapy is one of the new professions for young women. The necessity and importance of this work was firmly established in military hospitals during the late war and its...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - October 16, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: history Source Type: blogs

A tale of two Mertons
In her famous Slagle lecture, Reilly describes the importance of criticism in professions in general and in occupational therapy in particular.  She stated that "...a card-carrying critic must do more than merely engage in critical thinking. Judgments made by a critic must emerge from a discreet use of techniques which are difficult to master and dangerous to apply. Basically, the skill is dependent upon an ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize. A critic must have a sharply developed capacity to see deficiencies in data and fallacies in interpretation. The best stock in trade that any critic has is a disc...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - October 7, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: philosophy policy Source Type: blogs

Editing the American influence out of the history of occupational therapy
During the very long social justice debate that preceded the revised AOTA Code of Ethics there were repeated claims that social justice represented a Core Value of the occupational therapy profession.  Those claims have been thoroughly addressed here and here.  In these entries and several other previous entries information was presented to support the claim that American influences are germane to understanding the driving forces behind the formation of the profession. In my ongoing readings related to this topic I was comparing textbooks and am developing some new questions.  I am very curious about in...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - September 22, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: history philosophy Source Type: blogs

I vaant to TELL you zomething!
I want to share a message about authenticity in therapeutic relationships.Jim was a 40 year old man who participated in  a day treatment program in a rural community.  The program itself was conceived and nurtured by Jim's parents along with other parents who were desperately trying to find non-institutional program options for their children.  Jim had cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability.  He attended that community program as a school child and eventually 'graduated' into the adult day treatment program.  The program grew from providing services to just a few children to several hundre...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - September 22, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: Disability rights OT Education OT practice Source Type: blogs

Narrative summary of the ACOTE Occupational Therapy Entry Level Survey
*This represents MY Summary and opinions on this report:As part of the process of gathering data to inform decision making regarding the entry level degree required for occupational therapy practice, the Accreditation Council on Occupational Therapy Education conducted a survey.In summarizing these statistics, categories of respondents were combined to simplify analysis.  Also, in summarizing agreement or disagreement, categories of 'strongly agree' and 'agree' were combined as were 'strongly disagree' and 'disagree.'That survey was open between March 13, 2015 and closed May 15, 2015.  There were 2,829 respondent...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - September 9, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT Education OT practice Source Type: blogs

Investigating the status of " The Pledge and Creed for Occupational Therapists "
A little over a year ago I presented < a href= " http://abctherapeutics.blogspot.com/2014/05/emmanuelism-provided-core-values-to.html " target= " _blank " > an argument that the Emmanuel Movement provided important core values for the occupational therapy profession < /a > . & nbsp; This argument was constructed in context of a debate on whether or not Social Justice was a historical value of the profession. < br / > < br / > I was curious as to why we neglected to include the Emmanuel Movement when we discussed our values and beliefs. & nbsp; In the beginnings of the 20th century the Emmanuel Movement was based on the no...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - August 30, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: history philosophy Source Type: blogs

Investigating the status of "The Pledge and Creed for Occupational Therapists"
A little over a year ago I presented an argument that the Emmanuel Movement provided important core values for the occupational therapy profession.  This argument was constructed in context of a debate on whether or not Social Justice was a historical value of the profession.I was curious as to why we neglected to include the Emmanuel Movement when we discussed our values and beliefs.  In the beginnings of the 20th century the Emmanuel Movement was based on the notion that a new method was required to address the social problems of disability and illness.  That new method was a philosophy regarding responsi...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - August 30, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: history philosophy Source Type: blogs

Ethical occupational therapy practice in nursing home care
I teach ethical decision making to occupational therapy students.  One of the most common concerns that I hear from students each year is the pressure that they experience regarding productivity and 'meeting minutes requirements' in skilled nursing facilities.  Nursing homes receive higher rates of reimbursement based on intensity of rehab services that are provided, so there is an incentive for facilities to provide as much 'high intensity' therapy as possible.Typically, the students express ethical distress because they often believe that the recipients of these services are receiving marginal or no bene...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - August 28, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: health insurance OT Education OT practice Source Type: blogs

The occupational therapy profession's indecisive step toward its Centennial Anniversary
< div class= " separator " style= " clear: both; text-align: center; " > < a href= " http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4b3fL8ndwJE/VdI-V-juKUI/AAAAAAAAAjk/KuzBAgou1Nw/s1600/Indecision.jpg " imageanchor= " 1 " style= " clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; " > < img border= " 0 " height= " 254 " src= " http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4b3fL8ndwJE/VdI-V-juKUI/AAAAAAAAAjk/KuzBAgou1Nw/s320/Indecision.jpg " width= " 320 " / > < /a > < /div > The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education released an unexpected set of decisions last week. < br / > < br / > In sum, the two decisions promote the co...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - August 17, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT Education OT practice Source Type: blogs