Comfortable in my World

Occupational therapists understand how important an environment is when helping individuals engage in their desired occupations. Occupations must occur in some type of environment such as a bathroom when bathing, bedroom when dressing, classroom when learning, social setting when meeting with friends, etc. The environment and its contexts are important to consider when working with individuals because the environment may either support or hinder ones performance. The environment can also play a role in the way someone performs their occupations.

Referring back to my grandma, when she fell she was on her way to the bathroom. Her house is a tiny 900sq foot place with a lot of clutter and when making her way to the bathroom she tripped over a shoe that was on the ground and didn't have anything around her to support her balance, thus resulting in her fall. The tight space, the crowded room, the bare walls all were factors in her environment that hindered her performance. This is a prime example of how her environment in this instance did not support her. Occupational therapist are not only able to educate on fall prevention and perform home evaluations, but we are able to modify and design a home in order to meet the persons needs and displays as a good fit for them. For example, this may have meant installing grab bars along the walls of her house so she had some extra support when walking around her house, or changing her flooring to foam padding rather than tile in the case she does fall. These are physical components in her home that can be modified to help enable function in my grandma. The physical components help to increase her safety despite her impairments of the brain tumor and Alzheimer's.

In our practice framework, occupational therapist must "recognize that for clients to truly achieve an existence of full participation, meaning, and purpose, clients must not only function but also engage comfortably with their world." This means that there is a direct impact on how one is able to perform something depending on the environment surrounding them. Because we understand the importance of environment, we are able to analyze how to create a "good fit" between the person and their environment and also resolve/modify their current living situation.

This is where the idea of home design and occupational therapy comes in. Before my journey into occupational therapy school, I wanted to pursue interior design and interior decorating. I ended up choosing this route because I was inspired after seeing the improvements my grandma made after receiving OT services; however, I was still passionate about home design. Now combine home design with an occupational therapy lens and I get the best of both worlds.

Home design includes the process of modifying and creating changes in ones home environment. When looking at home design through the lens of occupational therapy, it can be done through consultation or universal design.

What makes OTs distinct from other professions that are involved in the home building and design industries such as interior designers and contractors, is that OTs bring a fresh perspective into the home design process using a client-centered approach. This means that OTs not only take into consideration what is modern and practical, but also factor in the whole person and their complexities - their disability, limitations, motor skills, functional status, occupations, routines, values, and the list goes on. By approaching home design using a whole person lens, the results are able to be different than by just looking at the current trends. Compared to another profession, OTs bring a deeper lens that's different than general contractors and interior designers. OTs help make individuals comfortable in the world in which they live in, whether that is making a home accessible for someone who is wheelchair bound for the rest of their life or for someone who needs to have durable medical equipment throughout their house.

In the last blog post I'll discuss more in depth between consulting and universal design, how these two things can go hand in hand, and how OTs can integrate themselves into both.