Skip to main content

OT and Nutrition


I have always been interested in nutrition, so I was excited to learn that we would have a lecture given by a registered dietician as part of our curriculum in occupational therapy school. This is an area in which I believe OTs have a great opportunity to partner with dietitians to provide the best care possible for our clients. Nutrition is one of the foundational pillars of our health, as it affects our physical, mental, and psychological well-being. What we choose to put into our bodies can have a profound effect on not only our health, but on therapy outcomes as well. One of the biggest takeaways from the lecture that I learned was that RDs often have to advocate for their profession, much like OTs do as well. Nutrition and OT are both fields that are commonly misunderstood. RDs might hear, “You help people lose weight through a diet, right?” and OTs hear, “Oh, you help people get jobs?” Both professions have so much more to them than it might seem from the outside.
 Although I knew this before the lecture, another thing that I found interesting (and I think needs to change) is that not every patient admitted to the hospital is given a nutrition consult. I definitely think that this should be the case, as I believe that anyone being admitted to the hospital has an issue that can be addressed through their diet. This is especially true with patients battling cancer, as diet in many cases can greatly influence (for better or for worse) the effectiveness of treatment and severity of symptoms/side effects. I also think it is unfortunate that even those clients who do receive nutrition services while in the hospital are often not given any dietary plans/advice for after discharge. While clients need to be discharged from PT or OT, this is not a requirement for nutrition. This is something that I will keep in mind on my level II fieldwork rotations, especially my first one in acute care. I hope that I can get to know the dietitians at the hospital there, and that I can gain even more insight into their role in the acute care setting.
Occupational therapists can integrate nutrition into treatment sessions in a variety of ways, depending on the individual needs of the client. One way would be to address dexterity, fine motor control and hand strength by having the client hold a bottle of Ensure with one hand and unscrew the lid with the other hand. Another way might be to address a group of clients who have deficits in sequencing by doing a meal prep activity where they would have to follow instructions and take steps in a certain order in order to complete the task. I hope that I am able to incorporate healthy habits related to diet and nutrition into some of my treatment sessions with my future clients.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Universal Design?

In his TED talk, Michael Nesmith explains, via a translator, why we need universal design. The term "universal design" was coined by Ron Mace, and is defined as "the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." Clearly, as a man with hearing issues, Michael has a unique perspective on the topic of universal design. A helpful illustration given during his talk has to do with a doorknob. Maybe you haven't ever given doorknobs much thought (I sure hadn't before this TED talk), but that's usually how it goes for people who have no issues using a one on a daily basis. What about people using wheelchairs, or a mother pushing a stroller? Doorknobs become a bigger issue to those who do not have complete accessibility to them. However, a simple solution was created to fix this issue: the automatic sliding door. Michael explains, "This is such a univer...
3 comments
Read more

Mock Interview Reflection

To prepare for this mock interview, I read through a few common OT-related interview questions and thought through my answers. I was originally planning to type out my answers, but I decided instead to only list bullet points to reflect on so that I did not come across as too scripted/rehearsed. I recently interviewed for a level II fieldwork rotation at St. Jude, and I went more in depth to prepare for that than I did for this interview in particular. Because of this, I felt like I had a good foundation going into this interview. Overall, I felt like the interview went well. I was able to answer all the questions without too much hesitation, and I felt like I answered them sufficiently, although I could have gone more in depth in some answers. Something that went differently than I expected was that I talked faster than I normally do. I learned that it is okay to take a pause and think through my answer before speaking in order to provide a more in-depth and full ans...
Post a Comment
Read more

Level II Fieldwork

As I am starting to prepare for my level II fieldwork rotations, the biggest thing I am trying to keep in mind is that I am not expected to come into these new settings/situations as an expert. As a student, I am not going to be expected to be perfect, as I am still learning and growing. While it is important to prepare and do my best, I know that my fieldwork educators are going to teach me and push me along during my three months in each setting. One quality that fieldwork educators like to see in their students is confidence. While I might not be confident in all of my skills yet, I should be confident in my ability to learn and improve. Another positive quality in a fieldwork student is being responsible and taking advantage of your own learning. This includes being on time, being alert, and doing work at home (researching diagnoses, interventions, familiarizing yourself with assessments/precautions, etc). I think that the ideal fieldwork student is motivated, ask...
Post a Comment
Read more