Reliance Therapy

07/05/2022

Come on out to our Yard Sale this Friday and Saturday! We really do have a little bit of everything!

Hope to see you there 😄

06/24/2022

Family Yard Has Started!!

Come on out! Now-3!

06/18/2022

Hi everyone!! We are holding a family yard sale next Friday, June 24 from 8am-3pm. We are selling games, toys, books, craft supplies, and so much more!

We are located on the corner of Pine and Spruce. Please park on Pine Street if possible!

06/10/2022

We are sad to announce that Reliance Therapy will be closing. Our last day of business will be
on July 1st, 2022. After that date, Reliance Therapy will no longer be offering any therapy
services. The decision to close was not an easy one to make, but after 10 years in business, Pat has decided to explore other opportunities. We have enjoyed building relationships with all of our patients over these past 10 years. We would like to thank all of you for your business and support over the years. Reliance Therapy would not have been successful without you.

05/18/2022

F is for Fine Motor Skills!

Origami for Fine Motor Skills
​Occupational therapists are often tasked with working on different skills with patients. These skills include cognition, visual motor, and executive functioning skills as well as many others. Another important skill that OTs often address is fine motor coordination. Fine motor coordination includes “movements that involve certain limbs and involve small muscles between the exercise for the wrist and the ability to move the fingers” (Pradipta & Dewantoro 2019). These motions are what allow an individual to write with a pencil, eat with silverware, or type on a keyboard. Experiencing a deficit with fine motor coordination can cause difficulty with activities that are part of daily life. While there are many ways that occupational therapists can address these deficits, one unique way is through the incorporation of origami.
​Origami, or the art of folding paper, can be a useful activity to work on fine motor skills. Folding the paper correctly engages the participant’s arm, wrist, hand, and finger movements. For children with intellectual disabilities, origami not only works on fine motor skills, but also addresses a student’s motivation, attention, creativity, and perseverance (Pradipta & Dewantoro 2019). Students who practices origami tended to display more independence, resilience, and patience (Pradipta & Dewantoro 2019).
​Occupational therapists can also employ origami activities to increase hand function after an injury. A study published in The British Journal of Hand Therapy worked with 13 participants to study the observed benefits of incorporating origami into therapy sessions (Wilson et al., 2008). What they concluded was an improvement of 11.8 seconds when using the impaired hand as opposed to 4.3 seconds of improvement with the control group (Wilson et al., 2008). Additionally, the participants involved in the origami group enjoyed the sessions and found it to be beneficial (Wilson et al., 2008). Using origami and other creative methods are a great way for occupational therapist to address deficits through enjoyable activities.


References
Pradipta, R. F., & Dewantoro, D. A. (2019). Origami and fine motoric ability of intellectual disability students. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 5(5), 531–538.https://doi.org/https://www.ijicc.net/images/vol5iss5/Part_2/55215_Pradipta_2020_E_R.pdf
Wilson, L.W., Roden, P. W., Taylor, Y., & Marston, L. (2008). The effectiveness of origami on overall hand function after injury: A pilot controlled trial. The British Journal of Hand Therapy, 13(1), 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/175899830801300102

This pilot study measured the effectiveness of using origami to improve the overall hand function of outpatients attending an NHS hand injury unit. The initiati...

05/09/2022

E is for Employment!

Where Do Occupational Therapists Work?
​One of the unique features of therapy services, and more specifically occupational therapy, is the variety of settings in which a therapist can work. Occupational therapists are employed in a variety of locations. Each location presents a different populations and varying challenges and deficits for the therapist to address.

1. Skilled Nursing/Assisted Living Facility/Retirement Community: In this setting an OT would work with residents in performing ADLs and IADLs such as cooking, medication management, bathing, and dressing. The therapist will also work with clients to continue participating in the activities that they enjoy.

2. Schools: Occupational therapists in the school setting work with students who diagnosed with learning disabilities or impairments. Interventions for students can incorporate different elements such as bilateral hand coordination, fine motor coordination, and executive functioning skills among others. Each intervention is designed to optimize the student’s ability to participate in school.

3. Home Health: Therapists in this setting will travel to a patient’s home for continuation of care after a hospital stay and work with them on maintaining their independence. This can often include working on daily activities such as cooking or cleaning or participating in activities like routines, self-management skills, and medication adherence to promote the health of the individual.

4. Hospitals: The occupational therapist who work in this acute care setting see a variety of diagnosis and symptoms. Patients are evaluated for strength, function, and mobility. Based off the evaluation, the OT will make a recommendation for a rehabilitation facility depending on the severity of the condition and the impairment of the individual. Interventions performed in this setting often revolve around bed mobility, transfers to the chair and toilet, personal hygiene, and endurance.

5. Acute and Sub-acute Rehabilitation Centers: In acute rehab, a patient will receive intensive therapy while recovering from a medical incident. This rehab is typically three or more hours a day of core therapies including OT, PT, and speech. A patient in sub-acute rehab will receive less than 3 hours of therapy a day making it less intense. These settings seek to return the patient to function. The average length of stay in these settings ranges from 1-2 weeks but can be more depending on the involvement of the patient’s condition.

6. Outpatient: Outpatient services are for patients who are medically stable, independent or receive help with ADLs, can drive, and are not considered home bound. An OT in this setting can specialize in neuro outpatient therapy, hand therapy, or lymphedema therapy.

04/28/2022

Letter D is for Diabetes

Occupational Therapy and Diabetes:
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the blood glucose (blood sugar) is too high. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that helps take glucose from food we eat to get into cells to be used as energy. If the body doesn’t make enough insulin or use it well, the body is not able to process food effectively for energy. There are several different types of Diabetes: Prediabetes, Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational Diabetes. Prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not enough to be diagnosed with Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction that stops the production of insulin. Type 2 Diabetes occurs when the body does not respond well to the insulin and is unable to keep blood sugar at normal levels. Gestational Diabetes develops in pregnant women and can cause greater health risks for the baby. Occupational therapists (OT’s) play a key role in educating
clients and caregivers while working on different strategies to increase independence and work towards a healthy lifestyle in diabetes management. OT’s can also help with medication management, hygiene, home modifications, stress/coping strategies, help gain access to resources, and promote a healthy lifestyle. Diet and exercise play an important role in Diabetes management. An
OT can help individuals with implementing healthy life choices to get back to functioning in daily tasks.

04/19/2022

Next up in th alphabet is the letter C! Our topic for this letter is: Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA)

A CVA is when an individual suffers from a bleed in their brain. Many things can cause this to occur. Blood clots in your body can break away and travel to the brain where it blocks blood flow to an area, causing tissue death. Head trauma can create blood clots that place pressure on the brain, restricting blood flow to an area. High blood pressure can also lead to a higher risk of blood clots.
Persons who have suffered a CVA can experience a host of problems depending on where the “accident” (the blockage) has occurred. When thinking about someone who has suffered a stroke, most people will
think of one side or the other of the body being affected in movement. Sometimes the muscles on that side of the body can be “tight” or what medically we call synergy. Sometimes it is the opposite where the muscles don’t move at all and the arm and leg just hang and are unable to move. This is called a flaccid arm or leg. Memory, mental processing, and the inability to control their arm or leg even if they can move can occur. The eyes can be affected as well with eyesight loss in one quadrant of the eye or even half
the vision in that eye. We call this hemianopsia. Sensation, swallowing and/or speaking are some additional difficulties that the CVA person may experience.

After the person’s medical condition is stabilized, beginning therapy is critical to optimize the recovery of their body. As with many things, rarely does something work in a vacuum and so the combination of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy is frequently seen with persona recovering with CVA. We all work on areas that fit our discipline the best. The Occupational Therapist focuses on
the upper extremity, vision and functionality. In the early phases of recovery, adaptive equipment might be suggested to promote early engagement in function with modifications to allow this to happen safely. Splints might be given to support a weak wrist until the muscles become stronger.

Your recovery will likely include in hospital care, intensive rehabilitation that may or may not be in a separate facility, home health and outpatient care. In all of these settings, Occupational Therapists can be found, continuing your journey through regained abilities in muscles, speech, balance, vision and above all – life!

04/09/2022

And we’re back for another post for Occupational Therapy Month!

Today I look at the letter B, and the brain, and the world of Occupational Therapy (OT). In the past 10 years, new medical breakthroughs in the understanding of the brain have significantly expanded. Medical understanding of injuries to the brain from physical trauma to internal conditions such as strokes and other diseases has exponentially grown. Our brain has the capability to continually develop, reroute itself and heal from many of these conditions, changing our understanding of how to address and treat
these individuals. OT from its inception to today has always looked at the individual as a whole person, the physical as well as the mental and spiritual. In years past, many persons with brain conditions would
have been treated in the early stages of their condition, but then often written off after 6 months or so. Today, the brain injured person can seek early intensive therapy with ongoing progression, treatment and varying approaches to continue their therapy for many years to come. OTs find recovery techniques and modifications to support the individual for their current abilities. A wholistic approach
that includes the individual, their environment as well as their family network provides the skills, knowledge and empowerment that people need to successfully manage and overcome their condition.

04/04/2022

April is Occupational Therapy month. Keep an eye out for lots of posts to our page!

I thought it would be interesting to focus on Occupational Therapy (OT) Month this year by going through the alphabet. Our scope of practice is so broad that I thought this might be a fun way to explore it.

So, with the letter A I think of Autism. With Autism diagnoses, many individuals will struggle with many skills such as speaking and processing language, fine motor skills, sensory processing and regulation and social skills. OTs might work with an individual with Autism from the early intervention years into adulthood. When the person is 2-4 y/o, OTs work with the student to begin assisting them in the understanding and speaking of language, helping them to figure out what they want in relation to sensory seeking behaviors and how to positively address those needs as well as bilateral, fine motor, and
coordination skills with the hands. When the child enters the school age, OTs continue to work on these skills but also begin helping them learn how to recognize letters and to write them. Increased attention is given to skills needed in a classroom such as focusing, listening, and following directions. This carries
on till they graduate school, with OT continually progressing the skills needed not only to be successful in school, but also for preparation for adulthood. Important skills such as socialization, vocational skill development, and independent living skills are all skills that the OT will be looking at in the high school years as well as into adulthood. The OT, in conjunction with other health professionals, can make a significant impact on the skill development in a person with Autism and creating success within their world from child to adulthood.

01/12/2022

Want to test your knowledge about OT? Well, you're in luck because it's time for another round of Name That Assistive Device!

Place your guess for the name of the pictured assistive device in the comments below. We will comment with the correct name next Tuesday!

Good luck and happy guessing!

01/05/2022

It's time for our first round of Name That Assistive Device of the new year!

Comment your guess for the name of the pictured assistive device. We will announce the correct name next Tuesday!

Good luck and happy guessing!