The Fundamentals of Caring,
is a movie about a young man in his early twenties named Trevor, who has Duchenne
Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Trevor gains a new caretaker named Ben, who takes
Trevor on a road trip across country! Several
months ago, my fiancé and I watched this movie on a plane ride to California. I decided to watch it again because I never
caught what Trevor’s condition was and became interested to learn more about
how his daily occupations, routines, and social interactions were effected by
muscular dystrophy. The second time I
watched the movie I decided to document everything I saw or heard on a word
document from the movie about Trevor’s condition. During my documentation, I
kept in mind what an occupational therapists job would be, and recorded any
observations I made about Trevor’s physical, social, and accessibility struggles
he experienced.
Trevor’s
mother mentioned during the movie that statistically Trevor has 7-10 years left
to live and was diagnosed at age 3, and Trevor’s age was mentioned to be 21
years of age at the end of the movie. He
had a medication notebook that his mother provided Ben with to keep track of
what he needs to take and when (it was a LOT of medicine). Ben was taught how to put the CPAP machine on
Trevor, did daily stretching on Trevor’s hamstrings, IT bands, hip flexors,
heel cords, and forearms on the bed. Ben
also helped Trevor with toileting, transporting him in and out of the car and
bed, preparing his meals, and with keeping him company. Ben had lost his son 3 years ago to a tragic accident
prior to him being Trevor’s care taker.
Ben, through taking care of Trevor, found himself being more fulfilled and
healing through the process of care taking.
I researched and found that Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy is caused by a gene X-linked recessive disease. There are no current
cures for the condition, but there are medications that can be used for DMD to
help prolong the condition’s symptoms. DMD
usually effects all voluntary muscle control, eventually. The condition usually confines the client to
a wheelchair by early teens, and is discovered around 3 to 4 years of age
(Cleveland Clinic, 2005).
Trevor’s
favorite occupations during the movie were watching TV and recording the world’s
most lame roadside attractions on a map.
He had a dry and unique sense of humor and loved to look at beautiful
woman, highlighting that Trevor is a normal guy with thoughts, feelings, and
goals. My favorite occupational therapy
part of this movie was when Ben asked Trevor, “If you woke up and you were
fine, what is the thing you would want to do the most?” Trevor’s response to Ben was, “Pee standing up”. Although the caretaker had no idea, in
occupational therapy language, this would be considered what is purposeful and
meaningful to Trevor. He wanted to
achieve the occupation of peeing standing up.
Thus, Ben convinces Trevor’s mother to let him take Trevor on a cross
country road trip. On this road trip,
Ben wanted to complete Trevor’s bucket list, which was to visit the world’s
most lame roadside attractions. This
trip targeted another one of Trevor’s occupational goals, traveling. During their road trip, Trevor experienced
his first date and kiss, a slim jim, a few failed attempts to pee standing up,
and had a blast interacting socially with the 2 people they picked up along the
way!
Near
the end of the movie, Ben finally had an idea on how to help Trevor achieve his
main goal, to pee standing up. Ben
borrows a flat board from an ambulance nearby and straps Trevor into it. He then stands the board up in front of the
world’s largest pit (the main place Trevor wanted to visit) and Trevor was
stabilized without Ben touching him, allowing him to pee standing up. That moment made me cry, because something so
small that we take for granted
everyday was Trevor’s main desire in
life. They screamed and rejoiced during
Trevor peeing standing up!
This
movie helped me gain knowledge on what an individual with muscular dystrophy
would experience or lack experiencing, and what some of the main physical
actions/movements that client’s with DMD do not have. I gained an insightful perspective on how
much effort goes into traveling when a client has muscular dystrophy. A client’s medication, sleep machines, and a
medical transport vehicle have to be accessible. The places they stop to go to the bathroom,
sleep, and eat have to be handicap accessible.
I enjoyed watching Trevor and Ben’s relationship as the movie
progressed, and so much of what Ben did for Trevor is what an occupational therapist
would do for their client. Ben
established rapport with Trevor, asked him what his main occupational goal was,
provided him with goal oriented activities along the way, used the road trip as
a sort of intervention, and through all of their experiences or (sessions), they
achieved Trevor’s final goal to pee standing up. Once the goal (outcome) was met, the movie
states that Ben resigned from his position (discharged the client), yet
remained friends with Trevor. Ben helped
Trevor achieve his occupations and goals, and through this process, Ben’s heart
was healed from the loss of his son and divorce from his wife.
I
would highly recommend anybody over the age of 18, occupational therapists or
students to watch this movie. It is
encouraging, informative, raw, and unique.
Disclaimer: There is a large amount of suggestive language used during
the film. I accessed the movie off of Netflix
as a Netflix original movie for free (I am a current monthly member). Following the movie, I looked up Duchenne
Muscular Dystrophy to learn more about the condition. Hopefully this movie will encourage others to
do the same! Below is the citation for
the movie and a photo of what the movie looks like. Also, the site of where I found my further
information of DMD is below in my citations.
Please take the time to watch Trevor and Ben’s journey in The Fundamental’s of Caring!
Retrieved
from
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrSbneO8_xYs48AAWJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB
yNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?
p=The%20Fundamentals%20of%20Caring&fr=tightropetb#id=3&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftopdezfilmes.o
rg%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F06%2FThe-Fundamentals-of-Caring.jpg&action=click
References
Burnett,
R. (Producer), & Burnett, R. (Director). (2016). The fundamentals
of caring [Motion Picture]. United
States: Levantine Films.
Cleveland
Clinic. (2005). Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Retrieved
from
info/docs/2100/2108.asp?src=news&ref=2100/2108.asp
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