Wednesday, October 24, 2007

JOB OPPORTUNITY: OT Program Director for the First OT Education Program in Egypt

Occupational Therapy Program Director, Egypt
Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Occupational Therapy Program Director, Institute of Post-Graduate Childhood Studies.

An exciting opportunity exists for an experienced occupational therapy academic to implement the first occupational therapy liaison education program in Egypt. The program is a 2 year Graduate Entry Diploma.

For more information go to: http://www.wfot.org/office_files/Egypt%20Programme%20Director%20Ain%20Shams%20October%202007.pdf

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Consumer Handouts from AOTA

October is Occupational Therapy Awareness Month
As part of this month of OT awareness, I would like to share some links to educational handouts provided by the AOTA. The American Occupational Therapy Association has an excellent section on their website for free consumer handouts. These handouts are an excellent resource for people who need further understanding of the role OT plays in various settings and with various populations (note: please keep in mind that some recommendations are based on US disability laws & regulations).

AOTA's "Tips For Living" handouts offer information to help people cope with a variety of health conditions in children and adults and explain how occupational therapy can help. The tip sheets can be downloaded and printed free of charge at www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips.aspx.

Here are direct links to a few handouts:

CHILDREN and YOUTH:

OT and children with developmental problems:
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Youth/ChildDevelopment/35121.aspx

OT and learning through play
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Youth/Play/35138.aspx

OT and handwriting issues
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Youth/Handwriting/35130.aspx

MENTAL HEALTH:
OT and community mental health
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/MentalHealth/Community/35166.aspx

OT and people with mood disorders
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/MentalHealth/Mood/35136.aspx

OT and people with drug and alcohol disease
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/MentalHealth/Drugs/35145.aspx



WORK PLACE:
OT and ergonomics
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Work/Ergonomics/35105.aspx

OT and low back pain
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Work/BackPain/35115.aspx

OT and carpal tunnel syndrome
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Work/CarpalTunnel/35119.aspx

OT and returning to work issues
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Work/Job/35103.aspx



ADULTS & AGING:
OT and fall prevention
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Adults/Falls/35127.aspx

OT and patients with hip replacements
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Adults/Hip/35162.aspx

OT and home modifications after injury and/or to prevent injury
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Adults/HomeMods/35182.aspx

OT and patients recovering from a stroke
http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Adults/Stroke/35193.aspx


This is just a sample of the many educational handouts provided by the American Occupational Therapy Association at http://www.aota.org/.

Take a look at these handouts as they are an excellent source of imformation in regards to the benefit of Occupational Therapy services for these populations.

Laura

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

"Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?"

When I first started this blog in June, I was interested in enlightening internationally trained OT's on the development of OT in Egypt. My hope was that OT's would contact me about providing their services to the Egyptian population. Well, over the past 5 months I have received many wonderful emails from OT's interested in working in Egypt.

So, the dilemma becomes, "Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" An organization can not have an OT department without OT's, but how do international OT's develop OT departments within Egypt? Is it expected that OT's simply re-locate to Egypt in the hope of developing services within organizations (i.e. hospitals, schools, clinics, community based programs etc.) or do these organizations need to request the services of OT's?

Hence, my writing this entry.

Now that there is a developing awareness from international OT's regarding the need for their services within Egypt, we need more Egyptian organizations willing to hire these therapists to develop programs.

Who would I like to hear from?
  • Egyptian organizations who have an understanding of how their organization can benefit from OT services and want to hire OT's to develop OT programs.
  • Egyptian organizations that would like to know more about what OT is and how their specific population in need may benefit from hiring OT's to develop OT programs.

There is now a small, but growing number, of therapists working and living in Cairo that can provide organizations with further information about OT.

What are some examples of specific organizations in Egypt that may benefit from OT programs?
  • Occupational Therapists are part of the rehabilitation team, so every hospital within Egypt that already has a physiotherapy department should also have an occupational therapy department....and if there are no rehabilitation services offered within the hospital, then perhaps there should be. OT's have great organizational skills and can also initiate the development of a rehabilitation unit within hospitals.
  • Occupational Therapists are part of the mental health team, so every psychiatric hospital and/or clinic within Egypt can benefit from the services of an OT. They work alongside psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors, nurses, recreational, music and art therapists. OT's have a tremendous understanding of the psychological benefits of performing meaningful activities.
  • Occupational Therapists are part of the educational team, so every school within Egypt should have the services of an OT. There are plenty of children with special needs who attend mainstream schools and who are struggling without support. Why should they struggle within a mainstream school if they can be provided support within school to be successful and stay in that school? It is foolish to believe that children with special needs only go to "special schools." Perhaps it is true that there are only a few schools in Egypt who specialize in treating these children, but that does not mean that children with special needs do not exist in mainstream schools.
  • Occupational Therapists are part of the community team. OT's specialize in assessing and adapting a person's environment in order to facilitate participation in functional every day tasks. OT's can assess a person's home, work environment, and community for safety and make recommendations for modifications and equipment needed for person's with special needs.
So, perhaps if you are a doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, physiotherapist, administrator and/or educator you may be a part of an organization within Egypt that can benefit from an OT on your team.

I would be thrilled to hear from some organizations and would like to be able to provide the link between the organization and international OT's.

Thanks,
Laura