Blog 28. European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE)

Hi everyone!

For today I prepared a blog about the European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE), as a part of the series about OT organisations.

In 1995 the ENOTHE was founded. It is a non-profit organisation that is concerned with the standers and quality of professional education of occupational therapists across Europe.

One of their general aims is to ensure that there is a robust educational system for European OT’s, which demonstrates comparability, high quality, and flexibility to respond to changes in health and societal issues policy and practice.

The other general aim is to work with the Council of Occupational Therapist for the European Countries (COTEC). Both organisations share the key ambitions to develop strong partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally to increase presence, visibility, and influence in relation to the promotion of the OT contribution.

The ENOTHE is also committed to harmonising and improving standards of professional education, practice and research as well as advancing that body of knowledge of OT and occupational science throughout Europe.

Besides that, they seek to ensure that the professional education produces graduates who are fit for the future and able to work within an evolving political context.

Objectives that the ENOTHE has are:

Stimulate European standards of OT education in higher education using World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT) standards and methods of quality assurance in order to reach mutual recognition

Introduce and promote ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) in OT education

Encourage the development of lifelong education in OT including the development of joint education/European programmes

Provide assistance to institutions who wished to start OT education programmes and to advise on potential resources

Did you already hear of SPOTeurope (Student Platform Occupational Therapy Europe)? They are part of the ENOTHE. This platform is created to encourage and increase the connection between OT students across Europe. Like our MiniSpotZuyd, is SPOTeurope run by students for students!

And did you know that there is a yearly Annual Meeting held by ENOTHE? The Annual Meeting is a three-day Meeting for Professional, Academic and Student OT’s from all over Europe can meet and network. Each Meeting is hosted by a different institute/school/university and different key themes are discussed by different keynote speakers from across Europe.

For example, this year the Annual Meeting took place in Oviedo, Spain and next year it will take place in Kraków, Poland. This will be the first OT Europe Congress organised between 15-19 October ‘24. The conference theme will be “Future-Proofing OT”, with topics about new trends/emerging areas, mental health, physical health, education, multidisciplinary interventions and approaches, occupation focussed research and research methods, public health, student research and quality improvement.

Are you interested in participating? Let us know in the comments!

This was the second blog in the series about OT organisations, hopefully you enjoyed reading it and learned a little more about the ENOTHE! Next time there will be an interview with Academic and Student OT’s of our school, Zuyd University of Applied Science, about the Annual Meeting 2023 in Oviedo and their experiences.

See you!

Jill

Blog 27. Dutch Occupational Therapy organisation (Ergotherapie Nederland)

Hello everyone,

It's has been a while since we have written a new blog, because of school and internships. Yrsa has left the team to focus on school and now we have a new member writing the blog and she would like to introduce herself.

Hii, I’m Jill and since May this year I’m a blog member for the English blogs of MiniSpotZuyd. But till now I didn’t write any English blogs yet.

To clarify who I’m: I’m a second-year student and I’m 20 years old. In my spare time I like to listen to music, play with my dog, be creative, bake and cook, photograph, and do I enjoy reading a book every now and then.

The reason that I joined MiniSpotZuyd is that I liked the international aspect of it. Just to exchange with other people what OT in the Netherlands is like and write about it. My goal is to expand people’s knowledge about OT in The Netherlands.

Today we liked to talk about the Dutch Occupational Therapy organisation called Ergotherapie Nederland.  This will be part of a series about OT organisations.

Mission: OT NL wants the OT profession and the individual OT to have a strong position. They work towards a professional and high quality professional practice

Vision: The vision is to give a spotlight to the worth of occupational therapy and to help OT's with having a strong position in the work field through advocacy. They are working on the development of OT through scientific research and guideline development. In addition, they promote the expertise development of the individual OT through training courses and conferences.

Core values: Connection OT NL want to be a professional association for all OT's.  They have an important network function and facilitate members and non-members.

Visible As professional association OT NL wants to see and be seen. They follow al current developments closely and respond acordingly.  They ensure that the profession of occupational therapy is seen by various stakeholders so that the social importance of the profession of occupational therapy becomes visible.

Inspiring We encourage the development of occupational therapists. We do this, among other things, by offering training and inspiring events and financing scientific research.

About Ergotherapie Nederland OT NL is the Dutch professional association of and for OT’s and looks after their interests. Together with the members they preserve and improve the quality of OT. This is done by:

organising trainings, conferences, and meetings

share knowledge and information through the OT magazine, knowledge platform on info.ergotherapie.nl, and the newsletter

vocational development and professionalisation via advisory boards, committees and working groups

lobbying political organisations and health insurance companies

work together with other professional associations within the paramedical platfrom NL, called Paramedici Platfrom Nederland (PPN)

take the initiative to do scientific research

develop guidelines

fulfil union function requirement

give legal advice and help

Professional profiling OT NL is committed to raising awareness of the profession of occupational therapy in the Netherlands. They do that by:

use of external communication channels (e.g., website and social media)

develop campaigns towards a wider audience (online and offline)

make PR materials available for OT’s

profiling to political organisations and other healthcare professionals

We hope you enjoyed reading this blog and got a little more knowledge about the Dutch professional association Ergotherapie Nederland. Does your country also have an OT professional association?

Till the next blog!

Jill and Sarah

Blog 26. Mindfulness 

As OT's we also have to care for the mental wellbeing of our clients. There are many interventions and methods that focus on mental health. One of those interventions is Mindfulness. 

Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present. This state is described as observing one’s thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad.    In simpler words it is being in the present, being conscious and acknowledging your feelings.  In my internship I also used a lot of different mindfulness exercises on my clients.  I used meditation exercises, breathing exercises, practicing setting boundaries, acknowledge negative thoughts and convert them to good ones.   Other mindfulness practices/hobbies are Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, gardening, being in nature, exercising (walking, running, cycling, swimming, dancing etc.), making art, reading, writing, cooking/baking, decorating.    

Mindfulness can help for the following symptoms: 

Reduction of anxiety 

Better night's sleep 

Increased ability to relax 

Reduction of stress symptoms 

The ability to deal more effectively with long- and short-term stress 

More energy and enthusiasm for life 

Improving self-esteem 

Reduction of depression 

Learn to deal with pain 

Reduction of physical and psychological symptoms 

This year I experienced some mental health problems myself and I discovered that Mindfulness also could help me as a student and professional. I personally really like dancing, making art, decorating and breathing exercises. Recently I have also been interested in Yoga. Mindfulness has helped me to relax more and feel happier. 

I have a few mindfulness exercises for you to do yourself. 

Breathing exercise  Breath slowly in until the air fills your lower stomach and breath slowly out.  Repeat this about 5 times and see what it does with your body and how you feel.   

Body scan  How does your body feel in the here and now.  Focus from head to toe on your body parts and you're breathing.  When you have a complete picture of the state your body is in, you can map out the problems for yourself. Ask yourself where these could be coming from and how you could fix them. Do this for about 10 minutes.   

Guided Meditations on Youtube  You can find a lot of mindfulness meditations and exercises on YouTube and other sites.  For example, this one: A Ten Minute Guided Meditation to Clear Your Mind - YouTube   

I hope you found my article interesting, and I hope you will try mindfulness exercises yourself to see what it does for you as a person and professional. 

Until the next blog, 

Sarah 

Blog 25. Burnout 

Every human being experiences stress. It is primarily a physical response. When stressed, the body thinks it is under attack and it will switch to ‘fight’, ‘flight’ or ‘freeze’ mode. During this moment it’ll release a complex mix of hormones and chemicals such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. 

Stress is a human response shown towards external or psychological stressors. On the contrary distress is the emotional state a person encounters when he fails to adapt himself to stressors. 

(Di)stress doesn’t always end up with negative responses, because some people take stress positively, adapt themselves and respond in healthy ways. 

Too much stress in combination with bad workplace health and unsafety can lead to a burnout.  

An Occupational Therapist can have a burnout, but also treat people who experience it. They will look with the client at their day schedule, stress factors and their strengths. Maybe some Mindfulness of meditation will help, or they can receive huge support from their social network. 

The next step is getting back to work after the burnout. Not to start with 36 hours per week, but slowly start with a couple hours a day and increase those step by step. 

But how do you recognize a burnout? Well, every day is a bad day. Caring about your work or home life seems like a waste of energy and you’re exhausted all the time.  

It is a gradual process. It doesn’t happen overnight but can creep up on you. The first signs are subtle but become worse as time goes on. You’ll feel tired, have lowered immunity, frequent headaches or muscle pain and there can be changes in appetite or sleep habits. 

In the end prevention is better than healing, so recognize the symptoms of a burnout and actively reduce your stress. You can prevent a major breakdown. Talk with people about it and don’t ignore your feelings, you’ll eventually burn out. 

Hope you found this interesting, and it might be helpful!  

See you next time! 

Blog 24 Technology within occupational therapy  

Technology is more forthcoming and plays an important role in health care. These new possibilities are improving the quality of care. In this blog I would like to describe a few developments in healthcare and how this is integrated in the study of occupational therapy.   

In the school program there is integrated technology in every module. This aligns with the central focus of the curriculum and is presented by teachers through workshops or presentations.  

For example, in the module on elderly, the topic of assistive technology and robotics has been integrated into the assignment. In the module on labor, the exoskeleton will be introduced to ensure that heavy-duty jobs are less strenuous. In the rehabilitation module, VR technology and 3D-printing will be covered. The 3D-printer can be used to create custom splints or other assistive devices. In addition to these devices, students will also encounter electric wheelchairs and home modifications that contribute to people's independence. 

Apart from what is offered in regular classes, various classrooms are equipped with smart home technology. Think of lights turning on when you enter or the TV turning on by itself, all regulated by motion sensors. There is also a light that turns on and off based on the sensor and the time of day. When the sensor detects a student and it is dark outside, the light will turn on. When the sensor detects a student and it is light outside, the light will stay off. This way, there are more possibilities available within smart home technology.  

During internships or while completing their thesis, students will also encounter various forms of technology in healthcare, depending on the theme of the setting or subject.  

Of course, the use of technology in healthcare also presents challenges. It is important to safeguard patient privacy and ensure the proper security of medical data. Healthcare professionals must also be well-trained to use technology correctly.  

Overall, technology offers many opportunities to further improve healthcare. It is important to keep track of these developments and explore how they can be used to improve patient care. 

Blog 22 MediReva day 

Hello everyone, 

Today I (Sarah) like to tell you about a Healthcare Technology Day organised by MediReva.  MediReva is a medical specialty store, which supplies medical devices and care materials for diabetes, wounds, stoma, incontinence, nutrition and rehabilitation care.  MediReva was founded in 1979 by the couple Pierre and Tineke Gubbels, with the ambition to make the lives of (chronically) ill people more pleasant.  They where a small company in the south of the Netherlands and now they are a well known company.    The MediReva day is a day for the different health care professionals that use the services of MediReva and the advicers. On the day their where different guest speakers that provided new information about important subjects. Than there were also different companies that presented there (new) health care technologies.  You could test out the different products and ask questions.   

Van Raam is a company that makes unique adapted bicycles for people with disabilities.  The different bicycles are tricycles, mobility scooter bicycles, wheelchair bicycles, tandems, side-by-side tandems, wheelchair transport bicycles and low entry bicycles or comfort bicycles.   

Invacare is a company that makes different wheelchairs with or without elektric auxiliary driving.  You could test out all these wheelchairs and get information about the different options.   

There was also a companies that had different Anti-decubitus cushions that help to prevent sores.  One cushion is called the ROHO and it has different cells that get filled with air by a hand pump.  Another is called Vicair and is filled with tiny triangles filled with air.   

It was fun and interesting to test all the products and learn more about how they work.  With the information I got I can help my future clients. 

I hope you found my story of the Medireva day interesting.   

Till next time! 

Sarah   

Blog 21 EuReGiOtherapiedays  

Zuyd University of Applied sciences organizes in association with occupational therapy studies in Düren (Germany) and Hasselt (Belgium) so called EuReGiOtherapiedays.  

Those are three days where students improve their knowledge about OT in other countries by visiting each other’s school and working together making assignments.  

Every OT student can join. No matter age or study year. 

After these days students have improved their communication skills, because everyone has to speak English. They’ll discuss differences and similarities in nationalities and educational settings, talk about culture and professional systems.  

Different methods during education and work settings will be cleared. For example in Germany they have much more possibilities to do an internship compared to the Netherlands.  

In each country the students got a tour in and around the school building. In the Netherlands where acquaintance and learning about technology & OT the main goal. In Germany they learned about forensic psychiatry and occupational therapy in Europe. 

These days are very instructive, because you learn a lot about your neighbour countries. This might be a good idea for other countries to add in their school system! I would love to visit and learn more about OT in Europe.. 

Maybe I have convinced you to join a EuReGiotherapieday in your country or to organise one yourself by writing this blog. I hope to see you next time! 

Yrsa 

Blog 20 Child rehabilitation

A little while ago I wrote about the short internships, we had in the first year of the study. In the second year I had the chance to walk along with an OT in child rehabilitation for eight days.

I followed her during the working days. It was set place in a school for children who need special education. The kids I saw during therapy were between three and fifteen years old. They had various diseases like Cerebral Pareses, Duchesse and other muscle related diseases.

Most therapy sessions consisted of manual work, crafting, drawing and writing stuff down while looking at the way the child holds the pen. But the therapy was also targeting self-sustainability, for example putting clothes on by himself, cutting meat or making a sandwich.

Children who have trouble walking can try all sorts of tools like walkers or (electric) wheelchairs. There is a huge variety of tools that function as support. All sizes and colors or possibilities to change them so they fit the right child.

I watched the OT doing lots of therapy sessions, sitting observations, wheelchair checks, questionnaires, games and craft assignments.

She also measures for example a child’s hand, wrist or arm to make a tailored orthosis with the 3D-printer. They’ll try it on with the kid to see if it’s useful and from added value.

At last, I want to share the variety of communication possibilities they have. There was a girl, sitting in a wheelchair, not able to talk, who made herself comprehensible using a speaking device. She could look at letters on the screen in front of her and it would be shown or read out loud.

There were also children who communicated while using Dutch sign language or pictograms.

I hope I could tell you some new things about child rehabilitation and you found it interesting to read about!!

See you next time!

Yrsa

Loneliness

Hello everyone, 

Today we wanted to talk about the topic loneliness. A lot of people had to deal with loneliness during covid-19 and there are still people who feel lonely today. Loneliness is an issue for young and old. It is still a current topic. If you feel lonely, know that it is okay to talk about it and ask for help. 

Definition loneliness 

Meriam webster says that the adjective lonely means a few different things:  1a: being without company:    b: cut off from others: solitary  

2: not frequented by human beings : desolate  

How often does it occur  Research from the Netherlands showed that 3 in 10 Dutch people experienced loneliness during covid.  Among young people under the age of 25, this had increased to 5 in 10.    More than four in ten Dutch people over the age of 15 felt somewhat or very lonely last year. That is more than in 2019, when about a third of the Dutch population experienced loneliness. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands on the basis of a survey among 7,000 people.    Young people indicate more often than older people that they feel "emotionally lonely". This means, among other things, that they lack a close bond with others or feel abandoned. 

The Relationship of stress and loneliness  Erik Scherder is a Dutch professor of neuropsychology affiliated with the VU University in Amsterdam. He was invited to speak about loneliness on a Dutch programme during covid-19. He said loneliness is linked to stress. Loneliness is ultimately bad for your brain. Because you miss all the social support. You can develop chronic stress which makes your brain more vulnerable. The effect on your body is just as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This is because you start to produce the stress hormone cortisol and after a long period it will start to affect your vascular system and the functioning of brain areas related to memory and planning. It also will affect your mental state because you don't have the sense of reward.    How to deal with the feeling of loneliness? 

There are a couple ways, but you have to find one that fits you. There is no Nr.1 solution and it takes time to get where you want to be. I’ll sum some tips up; 

Acknowledge your feelings of loneliness. Don’t be ashamed to talk about it with someone you trust. This is what you feel and give these feelings space to be there.  

Know when you engage or disengage from the online world; you can talk with people online and find friends, but it’s also a dangerous way to escape reality and ignore the solutions in real life. 

Join a group to overcome loneliness. There are initiatives and associations who give the possibility to increase your social network. They help you make friends and can give support to improve your social skills. Search online for any possibilities in your area. 

An occupational therapist helps against loneliness. As they coach people in their daily activities, they can search together for activities where someone can improve their social network. An OT helps you participate in society and through that you’ll feel less lonely. To help you cope with loneliness, the OT can talk about the feeling of loneliness using the ABC scheme. Via this method they will examine the cause of certain Behaviour and additional Consequences. By this way they’ll have insight of the thoughts and behaviours which have impact on the feeling of loneliness. 

There is also a method named “presence and care” from professor Baart. This represents an approach where they fully focus on the person. It stand for be there, be there for and with someone; really listening to each other and be there for him. 

It’s important for the OT to do these things step by step. The person who feels lonely has to understand this can’t be dissolved within a week. They have to take small steps and will slowly reach the goal. 

We hope you can use some tips we named and thanks for reading!! Till next blog! 

Sarah & Yrsa 

Blog 19. Internships first year.  

Hello there! 

When I started this study, my group was the first class who got the opportunity to do a brief internship in the first year; we were allowed to choose three organizations we wanted to learn more about. 

I was placed at a rehabilitation centre, primary care practice and a prevention centre. I’d love to tell you more about my experiences! 

The rehabilitation centre was definitely my favourite; For three days I followed an occupational therapist in the spinal cord injury service. I met people with spasm, paralysis and locked-in syndrome. That last disorder I found the most horrible to see; this man couldn’t move his body except his eyes. It was heart breaking to see, but at the same time great to see how he changed and sort of recovered from the syndrome. He wasn’t the same as before, but he made so much progress. 

My second internship I could follow an occupational therapist for three days in primary care. For example, I met someone who was still recovering from COVID-19 consequences after one year, a man with cancer and an elderly woman who still lived at home but had some physical and financial problems, which made it difficult to live independent. 

The thing I liked most about this kind of department is the freedom in organisation. The OT had her own workspace and travelled to visit clients at home. She could schedule her own day which seems really difficult to me, but also very nice. 

The last three days I could spend at the prevention centre at my school. I was guided by other students who did their internship for 20 weeks. They showed me their projects which existed of transforming a boring parking space into a nice and cosy place where residents could spend their spare time. But I also followed a student working on an app that showed the availability and presence of public toilets in the city. This app was designed for people with bladder and bowel problems, who can’t visit the city without knowing if there is an available toilet nearby. They’re still working on it, but I was excited to see that an OT could work on these projects too! 

Well, these where my stories about the nine-day internship I followed in the first year of the study. I hope you enjoyed this blog and hopefully see you next time! 

Greetings, Yrsa 

Blog 18 Health fair Parkstad (Parkstad Gezondheidsbeurs) 

Hello everyone, 

This week I (Sarah) wanted to tell you about a health fair I went to in the South of the Netherlands.  The health fair is a fair where different health institutions or entrepreneurs present themselves.  Examples are different kind of therapy practices, elderly care homes, outpatient care and Hospice care. It is an opportunity to learn more about healthcare, to learn more about the different professions, services and products that health institutions have. It even can help you to find your future employer as an Occupational Therapist. 

  There are also non-profit organisations that want to show you what they want to achieve with their organisation. Some are also searching for new volunteers or people that can help their organisation. The non/profit organisations that where present where the Diabetes Association Netherlands, apnoea association, lung fund, anticancer fund, Alzheimer's fund, The organisation for mentally handicapped people, organization for people with psychological vulnerability, organisation for people with disabilities and many more.    The products I saw on the fair where different kinds of compression socks, aids for the blind and visually impaired, health care robots that have advanced interactive therapy to stimulate patients. Different kinds of creams for certain skin problems.  There were also many different professionals at the fair; nurses, dietitians, physical therapist, hand therapist, food therapists, massage therapist. All of them wanted people to learn something from their profession, organisation or their products.    I personally really liked the coach that treated kids with high sensitivity and different ''disorders'' like ADHD, anxiety etc. She would help the children through Qigong massage movements that help the child to relax. Qigong is a Tai Chi-related form of movement from Traditional Chinese Medicine.  With that the child learns more about itself and how to handle different situations. The parents also get tools to support the development of their kids themselves.  The coach worked with colours and not with labels/disorders. They looked at the cause of the child's behaviour and assigns a certain colour to it. That is why she does quizzes where you can win gems in the colour of the rainbow and makes a dragon doll in the colour that represents the child.  It was a totally new form of coaching for me, and I liked to learn more about it.   

The next health fair will be held 4th of November 2023.  Maybe I will see you there? 

Kind regards, 

Sarah 

Blog 17 First year of study OT 

Dear reader, 

Hope you liked the previous post about the rehabilitation congress in Düsseldorf. Today I wanna tell you my experiences about the first year of the study OT. What did I learn and what did I like most? 

Every year has four periods of 10 weeks. The first seven weeks of a period you learn all needed theory and skills. Every period you get three tests; a theoretical test, a skill test and a performance assessment which is a combination of both.  

The first ten weeks we learned basic stuff about OT and some frameworks we’ll use in the rest of the study. We also got to know how we could coach a client while driving a wheelchair and have an acquaintance conversation.  

The second period was the time where we would learn a lot of stuff about children, their development and what intervention could be used.  

I found it very funny because at a test we didn’t get real children to work with, but simulation clients. So there was sitting a 70 years old woman in front of me and I had to imagine it was a 7 years old. She was acting so good it could be real. I’ve so much respect for those actors. 

Then I got to learn everything about my favourite group of people in the third period; elderly people. I found it really interesting to increase my knowledge about dementia, Parkinson’s and general age-related diseases.  

Every time we enter a new period, there are lessons focussed on the process in the body when a particular disease occur. So talking about dementia; it is caused by damage to brain cells. This damage interferes with the ability of cells to communicate with each other. As a result that thinking, behavior and feelings can be affected. Different types of dementia are associated with particular types of cell damage in specific regions of the brain. 

Okay, enough about that. Let me tell you about the last period: work. 

Here we learned the consequences of too much work, too few rest and bad posture while sitting. 

The main syndrome was a burn-out and how to prevent getting it. We also where able to set up an ergonomic workplace for screen work employees. 

Well, this was a short summary about the first year of OT and how I experienced it. Hope you liked it and hopefully see you in the next blog!! 

Kind regards, 

Yrsa 

Blog 16. Second year of OT  

Hello everyone, 

In this blog we (Yrsa and Sarah) would like to talk about the second year of OT at Zuyd University.  We have four periods in the second year. Every period lasts for 10 weeks.  The first is rehabilitation, the second is mental health, the third is in the neighbourhood and the fourth is practise for your internship.   

Sarah:  Hello Yrsa, I wanted to talk to you about the second year of OT.  I know you started the period rehabilitation this year. I was wondering what you like about this period and what did you learn? I remember that I found it really interesting, and it was somehow the easiest period for me. 

Yrsa:  Hey Sarah, thanks for asking! 

I only know the first period indeed, but I can tell you something about it! We learn everything about strokes and chronic pain, but also interventions and treatment methods to help people who suffer from these diseases. 

I find it really interesting to learn about the processes in the body and knowing what happens in the body while getting a stroke or chronic pain.  

At this time I’m focussing on chronic pain as a result of a whiplash. I learned how to explain the difference between acute and chronic pain to a patient. Thereby did I learn how we can find out what activity the patient wants to be able to implement (again). From there we set goals and create a plan how we’re going to reach that goal. For example, my current client wants to be able to cook for her family again without letting the pain lead her movements. So we gave her information about chronic pain and that she could move her body without breaking anything, because that’s what she is afraid of. 

But Sarah, I’m curious about your experiences in the second year, can you tell me something about that?   

Sarah:  Especially the second period mental health wasn't easy for me. You needed to learn a different approach of OT and I somehow didn't quite understand that.  I was also quite nervous for the test that I had to do, and it took me a while until I passed the test. But it also was a really interesting period for me. We had the opportunity to talk and help someone with a mental disorder.  You learn to look at the person and not just their mental illness. In society there are a lot of misconceptions of people with a mental illness and that is why they get misunderstood.   I must be honest my own mental health wasn't always great, and I think that you as a reader also might relate to that.  Mental health is really important, and I think we should help people with that as OTs, but also as a human being. 

Yrsa:  Thanks for sharing. I’m really looking forward to getting into the next periods of this year. I think it’s going to be hard but interesting. You said the second period is about mental disorders. Could you tell me something about the third period? 

Sarah:   My third period was about the neighbourhood.  You needed to visit a neighbourhood and look at what you see as a person and what you see as an OT. Then you had to do research about the demographic, social-cultural, technology, ecological, and political situations of a neighbourhood. So, you knew what was going on in the neighbourhood. After we made a list of questions. The questions where about what is good about the neighbourhood and what needs change.  Also asked if there are things that people wanted in the neighbourhood. We then had to communicate with the neighbourhood council about the answers to the questions and look if we could do something for the neighbourhood.  In the end we had to do a test with simulation patients that pretended to be people from a neighbourhood that wanted to start their own council and you as an OT had to guide them to form a group. This was quite difficult, but a good learning opportunity. 

Yrsa:   Wow, that sounds interesting. You practice for internship in the last period, right? How do you prepare yourself exactly?  

  Sarah: Yes, in my last period, I had to choose a targeted audience.  I choose elderly care.  I need to do more research about elderly and the neurological process of a stroke or CVA.  You also needed to work on your own goals and OT Competence.  It was interesting to work by yourself and prepare for your internship.  I now also work in an elderly home for my internship. 

Blog 15. Third year of OT  

Dear readers,     Hello, my name is Sarah (24) and I'm a third-year student at Zuyd university of applied sciences in the Netherlands.  In my third year I had to choose a minor and four elective subjects of the OT targeted audience (it will be changed to two minors this year).     The minor I chose was called Create Balance. It focused on personal and professional development. You needed to set goals and try to work on them during this minor. My goal was to get more self-confidence and to also learn more about confidence.     My four subjects where Elderly care, Ethical-political occupational therapy, Hand therapy and advising the client.  You learn even more about the subjects you like, so you can you use them later at your internship.     My internship is in two elderly homes for people with dementia and one where people come to rehabilitate with cognitive and neurological issues.  I have learned that having your full attention for the client is even more important for elderly with dementia and cognitive issues. You have different forms and stages of dementia, and you need to adjust the therapy to what they need in those stages.  Some people can't communicate through speech because of aphasia and then you need to find a way to try to understand them and help them. You need to observe them to know what they need and adjust their daily living.     You also need to communicate with different professionals about the client and get signals from them about something that needs change for the patient.  This can be through changing the wheelchair or walking aid, different posture or positioning in the (wheel)chair/while walking, adjusting positioning in bed with different medical pillows etc.   As OT you also give advice and educate other professionals and patients about helping aids and protocols.  With all that you can improve the patient's quality of life.     I hope you found my story interesting.     Kind regards,     Sarah  

Blog 14. Fourth year of OT

Hello everyone, 

Today we will have the blog about the last and fourth year of OT at Zuyd University.  Yrsa and I (Sarah) aren't yet in our last year, but I can tell you about what will happen in the last year. You can choose to start with your internship or with your thesis.  For both, you need to apply in advance. 

The internship  The last internship is a bit different than the first one. The internship will last 20 weeks (same as in the third year). The internship can't be in the same field/targeted audience as the third year, so you need to choose a new field again. This is so you get more knowledge about two different fields.  in your last internship it is also expected that you will do more on your own without a lot of help from your mentor. You still would get help if you really needed it of course, but because you already finished your first internship you should have more knowledge than before. In the fourth year you also need to achieve more OT, client based, system based and context-based competency than before. This is because you need to function as an OT professional and not as a student.  You also need to create your personal view as an OT.  For this you need to ask yourself different questions. For example: what are your ideals, what do you stand for, how do you want to improve OT etc.  After that you will start with your thesis.   

The thesis  After you finished your internship; you will start with your thesis. You are prepared for this cause you had to do a strategic innovative assignment and the client-oriented assignment through your first, second and third year. You make your thesis with a group, but you will be graded individually. You start with making agreements on paper with your group.  Then you need to choose a target audience, disease or disorder that you want to do research on. After that you can choose a process model that will help you along the way.  Your group also needs to create a document in which you can put all your data in.   A lot of scientific articles, books need to be read and you need to do a lot of online research. Every source you use needs to be cited in your document. This important because it could be seen as plagiarism.  In addition to creating a document and product, you also need to create a presentation and present it. This needs to be a short presentation about the research you did and the results. After you finished the research document and presentation you need to hand those in. The presentation and the research document will be rated.   Than you need to wait if you passed it or not.    I hope you will try to cherish this year and the people around you, because it will be your last time as a student. 

Kind regards, 

Sarah   

Blog 12. Rehabilitation congress Düsseldorf CONCEPT

REHACARE Düsseldorf 2022  International trade fair for rehabilitation, care, prevention and inclusion.  

The Rehacare is one of the world's leading international trade fairs for rehabilitation, prevention, care and inclusion. It takes place once a year in Dusseldorf and looks back on 30 years of expertise. The fair is the information and communication platform for people with disabilities, with need of nursing care, for the elderly and the chronically ill people. Whether mobility and daily living aids, outpatient or inpatient care aids, communication equipment, barrier-free living concepts or sports, travel and leisure ideas.  

This year, I (Noa Giesen) was allowed to attend this congress as an occupational therapy student from Zuyd University. Through this blog, I would like to share with you the interesting products, services, lectures and technology I had the opportunity to see this day. 

ReWalk Exoskelett  ReWalk is a battery-operated system. It is lightweight and portable exoskeleton that provides control to the hip and knee joints. The ReWalker controls movements using subtle changes in the centre of gravity. A forward tilt of the upper body is detected by the system, which initiates the first step. Repeated body shifting generates a sequence of steps which mimics a functional natural gait of the legs. The Exoskellet is an innovative product that enables people with impaired physical function such as paralysis or paraplegia to walk again. This can increase daily functioning and inclusion. The brand also offers an exo-suit intended for use in stroke rehabilitation of persons with lower limb disability due to the effects of a stroke. Individualized levels of assistance and compatibility with supplemental support aids ensure that ReStore has broad applications for patients across the gait rehabilitation spectrum. 

Rahm 3D – Hand orthoses  Rahm is a versatile brand. Apart from hand orthoses, it also offers mobility aids and prosthetics. The orthoses are designed to treat accidents, muscular diseases, rheumatic disorders, deformities/functional limitations in hand or neurologically-related movement limitations. The orthoses are individually and easily adjustable. Due to the 3D design, the material is breathable and lightweight (through the designed honeycomb structure). Meanwhile, in collaboration with orthopedic technicians, hand therapists and development engineers, Rahm has designed some thirty different hand orthoses. The brand thus offers many options and choices for clients with impaired hand function. 

  Neofect – Neurorehabilitation devices  During the conference, I found Neofect to be one of the most interesting brands. This is possibly because I am currently doing an internship within neurorehabilitation. Neofect offers devices for training hand and arm function, as well as cognition. This is done through functional and fun gameplay. I got the opportunity to try some of their products myself.  

First up, I tried the Smart Glove. Neofect Smart Glove is a high-tech rehab device that measures movements of the forearm, wrist, and digits with accelerometer and bending sensors. The glove goes beyond traditional resistance bands and putty to create occupation-based hand exercises in an entertaining virtual reality environment. The games I tried were very motivating and fun. The games are adapted to functional capabilities and stored in a database. This makes it possible to track progression of hand function. 

They also offer a comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation program. Cognitive impairments including decreased memory, problem-solving, and attention pose a significant barrier to independence. Neofect Cognition training allows for efficient practice of multiple executive functioning domains with minimal physical or environmental demands. Users receive performance feedback in game and via results reports, promoting self-awareness and skill improvement over time. The games I did were easy to perform and also fun to do again. The program offered a huge number of different game modes, each with its own function. 

   The Smart Board was also demonstrated at the conference. This is a virtual-reality adapted mobile arm support, effectively improving range of motion and coordination of the shoulder and elbow joints. This works with the same virtual program and system as Neofect's other electronic devices. Unfortunately, I was not able to try this system, but it was very similar to the Smart Glove. However, this system trains the function of the arm and shoulder rather than the fine and gross motor skills of the hand. 

Lastly, I got to learn about their own tools. It is a functional tool that can be used for different purposes with just a little modification. Think of brushing teeth, writing, eating and drinking with reduced hand function. Thus, daily operations consistent with the field of occupational therapy. 

Ruck MedicalTEC  During this day, I also got to talk with Thomas Ruck, boss of Ruck. His company offers manufactory for finger splints. The products can be adjusted to size and, as a result, they can be precisely delivered, for example, short and swollen or slender and small fingers. Most products contain PE foam, providing high comfort. The products act as an elastic tension element (spring) that supports mobilization. A permanent pull acts, which can be reduced or increased using a gag or forceps. With a needs-based adjustment of the spring tension, the orthosis, as opposed to the application, often high tops of a static-progressive variety, becomes a compatible device that can be used unobtrusively in everyday life. 

PANAT LAPTOOL  PANAT is a company focused on developing products aimed at motor rehabilitation. It is a modular training system designed for targeted movements. It includes a wooden board with interchangeable accessories along with an instruction manual. It is specially designed to teach customized tasks step-by-step. It offers a wealth of independent training opportunities in all phases of rehabilitation (without manual assistance). It offers many training opportunities for rehabilitation. However, it does not necessarily align with the vision of occupational therapy: task-oriented training. This product focuses mainly on functional training. This may make the product more in line with the training method of physiotherapy (function-oriented) and somewhat less in line with occupational therapy (task-oriented acting in one's own environment).  

During the day, of course, I got to experience many more products, innovations, services and lectures. If I have piqued your interest with this blog or if you are interested in the field of rehabilitation: it might be interesting for you to attend the REHACARE congress next year. I was able to listen to lectures on inclusion and new innovative ideas, experience different mobility aids myself, discover different aids focused on ergonomics and also see projects by other students (such as an aid for carrying a suitcase while driving a wheelchair). All in all, a lot of information and new insights under one roof. I found it very interesting, and I definitely recommend attending this congress as an occupational therapy student. It offers you a lot of new insights and views. 

Written by Noa Giesen  Fourth-year occupational therapy student at Zuyd University

Blog 11. Rehabilitation in India

In our previous blogs, we gave you an insight of OT in the Netherlands. Today I want to take you to the seventh-largest country of the world.. India! 

But first I’d love to discuss some facts about rehabilitation in the world. As an OT, this is one of the places where you can work. They’ll focus on maximizing function and self-sustainability in daily living skills.  

A third of the world’s population requires revalidation and about 15% lives with any kind of condition. These people mostly live in poverty, have poorer health and have more problems getting education, work and healthcare. 

And now.. Back to India! The country with 1,3 billion inhabitants and 23 official languages. 

Health insurance isn’t obliged but the offer is increasing. However more than 40% of the inhabitants aren’t insured. At the same time public hospitals grant free care. 

Besides big hospitals there are small rehab enters, Cure and Care.  

When we look at the private sector, there are “For Profit” and “Not For Profit” sectors. For Profit organisations are allowed to make profit and Not For Profit are of course not. NFP’s focus on giving care to people who actually can’t afford any kind of care.  

Let’s zoom in on OT in India. In 1952 the first OT came to Mumbai. Now, in 2022 there are about 5000 therapists in whole India. Let’s say that’s one OT for one billion people. Also there are only 57 OT educations. The offer isn’t much as you can see. The shortage of OT is countered by technicians from the Rehabilitation Council of India.  

OT’s in India focus mostly on enabling occupation and participation; the same as in The Netherlands. They offer comprehensive treatment, assessment and consultation in an interdisciplinary environment. OT is for everyone; from kids to adults to elderly.  

I hope I’ve given you a little more knowledge about occupational therapy in India, especially rehabilitation.  

Thanks for reading this blog and hopefully till next time!! 

Yrsa