Occupational Therapy
What Is It?
Occupational therapy is the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or occupations, of individuals, groups, or communities.
Their Story
Guardian Angels 2 is an adult day care center located on Fenkell street in Detroit, Michigan. The center is open Monday-Friday and takes care of a variety of individuals ages 28-94, During the session, there were 22 participants (ages 55-94) and 3 nurses the majority were wheelchair-bound or sat in chairs, however, there was one individual that stood and danced for the whole time. Participants also had a variety of experiences and suffered from a range of disabilities such as blindness, cerebral palsy, stroke, closed head injury, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and mental disabilities.
Prior to the session information was collected on the genres of music participants would prefer. Participants unanimously agreed they enjoyed Motown music, especially the Temptations. When choosing the playlist for the session time was of importance because participants could only handle 10-15 minute sessions. Each song matched a type of exercise patients would conduct including a “cool down” and “warm-up” period.
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Personal Observation. November 5, 2019.
The Playlist
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During the Music
During the session participants willingly conducted exercises or a form of movement such as clapping. If participants did not perform any movement they would simply smile and nod their heads. One participant danced the entire time while another performed The Twist in her chair during “Do You Love Me”. Those suffering from blindness also participated in the exercises after careful explanation using analogies such as, “touch the ceiling” and performed them to the beat of the music. For three individuals, participation in both the exercises and the interview session was unusual. One of the three recited each song by heart while he conducted the exercises. In fact, most participants recited parts of each song such as the chorus
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Personal Observation. November 5, 2019.
Patient E
It brought back a lot of good memories, reminded me of the good old days
Patient M
Although I am in pain, the music helped me forget about and just have fun and be happy
Patient V
I’ve been to the veterans’ hospital, and they couldn’t really help me there, but doing this with you today made me really want to start moving, move to relive the good old days