Category: Health Education

Occupational Therapy Week 2019!!

It is Occupational Therapy Week!!

The age old question of what is an OT has had much written about but to keep it simple after 24 years of being an occupational therapist the easiest way is to ask you: Do you do activity? Is illness or disability preventing you from doing this activity on a regular basis? If you answered yes to both these questions then an OT can help you.

There are many different types of OT’s as there are many people doing different activities affected with many different types of illnesses and disabilities. 

I focus on breathlessness and fatigue in pulmonary and cardiac conditions.

I have heard my patients blame old age when I first see them and then they always say “But I’m 80 something (or 90 something), it’s too late you can’t do anything for me”.

We start talking to find the root source of their breathlessness and I then assess their movements and breathing as they do a simple house chore. With my findings we begin to explore new ways for them to manage. They start to see how they can make things easier and keep doing the activities they find rewarding for longer than they anticipated.

I think that is priceless.

Asthma Week 2018

Asthma Week this year is about busting myths and getting the facts out there as two thirds of Australians are affected by asthma!

If you:

  • have symptoms more than two days a week
  • use reliever medication more than two days a week
  • do less because of your asthma
  • have symptoms at night or on waking

Then go see your GP for a review as your asthma may not be well controlled.

For asthma support and information call the 1800 ASTHMA Helpline
(1800 278 462)

Retiring Society

Spent the morning at Tricare Mt Gravatt Retirement Village giving a talk on Breath Management and catching up with residents afterwards. Lovely to meet the residents who were talkative, great on the puns and sharing plenty of laughs.

Questions on breathing technique and do we avoid certain movements or modify were the hot topics for the morning.

Thank you for a lovely morning!

Breath Management Class at Local General Medical Practice

I recently ran a breath class at a local medical practice for the purpose of increasing community awareness about breathlessness, how it affects us and how we can manage it. Evaluations were positive as they found many things to relate to and many other things to learn and practice. A great way to engage people that are hesitant to join a regular program in a larger health service.

Pressure Points

On 17 may it was World Hypertension Day. The Heart Foundation is encouraging people to ‘know your numbers’.
“Blood pressure does naturally vary, but a reading under 120/80 is considered optimal. Readings over 120/80 mmHg and up to 139/89 mmHg are in the normal to high normal range. The reading measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart pumps (120) and when it relaxes between each beat (80).”
These are numbers to consider seriously!
Go to : www.heartfoundation.org.au/y…/know-your-risks/blood-pressure?

Simple things such as regular exercise, moderation in diet, watching your cholesterol and salt, good sleep, and quit smoking are great places to start.

Genetic Risk & Dementia

The good thing is that even if someone in your family has had a diagnosis of dementia you can reduce your risk of getting it regardless of genes by working on the modifiable risk factors: eat healthy, exercise, manage your BP/diabetes/depression effectively, don’t smoke, socialise and get out and about, keep learning and stimulating your brain by joining a chess club, learn a language, or learn a new skill.

What Dementia Risk Factors are you Ignoring???

Studies have found that modifiable risks factors can make a difference and decrease the proportion of people developing dementia,  https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/falling-dementia-rates-us-and-europe-sharpen-focus-lifestyle , the Framingham Study – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4943081/pdf/nihms762894.pdf

Modifiable means you can change it. They include: 

  • Low education attainment
  • Physical inactivity
  • Depression
  • Midlife hypertension
  • Diabetes
  • Smoking
  • Midlife obesity
  • Hearing loss
  • Social isolation

What are you going to do today to make a change for the ‘healthy’?

Health Education: Pneumonia Awareness Week 13-20 May

Keeping warm as the temperature drops morning and afternoon is key to staying well this week in Brisbane but we also need to keep an eye on our friends and family for symptoms that could be ignored as a simple cold.

Awareness of the symptoms Pneumonia, a serious condition, is one way you can help those you know and love who are considered to be at risk –  those with a chronic medical condition, a smoker, if they are 65 years or under 12 months of age.

Encourage them to get a medical check up with their practitioner if – difficulty breathing; fever; chest pain; cough; and fatigue. And if in doubt get it checked out, anyway.

For more information you can find a brochure on the Lung Foundation website at: www.lungfoundation.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Lung-Foundation_Infographic_Pneumonia_Final.pdf