A Trellis for Jane

     Initially my project seemed daunting. My media assignment is straws of any kind and my case study is Jane, a 33 year old, who is recovering from Guillain Barre syndrome. Before her diagnosis, Jane was a pediatric nurse. She has interests in pottery, cooking, gardening and she loves spending time with her friends. She struggles with mild to moderate fatigue and distal weakness in her upper extremity more than her lower extremities. She can ambulate short distances with standby. Jane is in a neurology rehab facility after a stent in the hospital. When thinking about my intervention for Jane, I wanted to focus on energy conservation for her and to do it in a way that was meaningful for her so that she could take it into her life after rehab. I decided to hone in on her gardening hobby because I felt that it would be something that she could do in her rehab facility room. I chose to have her pot a climbing plant and then build a trellis from straws. I think I realized that I wanted her to do an activity that would give her control over something within the facility while also teaching her ways that she can compensate for her energy deficits during her recovery phase, especially when she goes home.  

    I learned from this project, that "out of the box" thinking is going to be crucial when problem-solving for a client. I know now how important creativity and critical thinking plays into intervention plans and occupation-based activities in OT. This project has made me think differently about a client's problem areas or deficits and how I can help a person feel more in control in a situation they never planned for. In the future, I hope to be a more understanding and innovative OT thinker. Exploring a person's point of view and trying to understand what they want out of life is going to be crucial to building an intervention plan and to prepare them for discharge. I think for my case study, Jane, I wanted to think about how someone like her would feel in a rehab facility, and that is how I tackled the project. I think in the future, having empathy for my client and trying to understand their situation will help me greatly. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-y8xrrCNso&t=1s