This was such a rewarding and beneficial experience for us as future ot's! I love that we are offered these SIM labs before our fieldwork begins. I was laughing so hard when I watched this video, especially when I first walked in the door and had to pat my hands dry on my pants. I would give myself a good on this SIM lab simply because I am not sure if I did something wrong since the majority of the class finished the assessment and in less than 10 minutes and I did not! I do think that I used good eye contact, tried to listen to her briefly before I tried to bring her back on topic, smiled, and tried to use the best therapeutic use of self I could. I as well had gone through the assessment instructions several times and practiced on friends before walking into the SIM lab, I felt as well prepared as one could be before the experience.
I was proud of my self for not letting Francis completely distract me, for quickly bringing her back on topic, and I noticed that I actually did ask her what she prefers to be called (I didn't remember doing this), and I did smile! My biggest struggles were trying to be kind & empathetic and still completing the full assessment in ten minutes, answering if she will or will not go to a nursing home (of course I didn't know), and trying to explain what occupational therapy was to her without her getting sidetracked. When Francis said "no" to me when I said, " I see here that you have been having some issues with your memory", this threw me for a loop. She was completely unaware of her cognition issues and I had a hard time telling her what the assessment was after she said she didn't have any memory issues and still make her feel special and not like I was trying to psychoanalyze her. We agreed that it was a sort of game of questions and answers. I am not sure if that was an appropriate way to approach this, or how to introduce the assessment after someone says they do not have any memory issues.
Many improvements could be made! I even said in the video, there is your wrist bracelet, but never checked it, and said her name. I need to always check the wrist bracelet. I am also not sure if I gave false hope by telling her good job, or saying no to specific things or by saying ok as I filled out the assessment. I am not quite sure what to do in those situations. I am a very responsive and nice person, and I never want my clients to feel like I don't care or I am being curt or short by saying ok next, next, next, with the assessment and never showing any positive enforcement. Maybe you can provide me some feedback for this question.
My takeaway was that no matter how many times you read the client's profile they will always surprise you with what interaction they provide you when you walk in the room. From this experience, I may be able to develop a good way to answer what occupational therapy is for the clients that we assess for dementia, a way that leaves the client little questions to ask to decrease distraction and I may be able to develop a plan on how to move through the assessment more quickly and effectively after watching this video.
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