Sex and Occupational therapy written in black over a faded image of peoples hands interlinked. One person hugs another from behind.

Sex & Occupational Therapy

Student PlacementAids & Equipment

The past few weeks I’ve been focusing on the topic of sex and disabled people’s experiences of sex. A couple of weeks ago I posted a survey to support my research into sexual wellbeing of disabled people. The link to this survey can be found here: sexual wellbeing of disabled people  Sex survey results Firstly,…Continue reading Sex & Occupational Therapy

chronic fatigue & baby weaning recipes written in red over an image of rainbow coloured fruit and veg.

Chronic fatigue & baby weaning recipes…a match made in heaven?

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

What do baby weaning recipes and chronic fatigue have in common? Absolutely nothing. And perhaps I am the first person on the planet to write that sentence? But bear with me…. Background I’m coming towards the end of my last placement of my occupational therapy degree and spending the last 10 weeks with Jo as…Continue reading Chronic fatigue & baby weaning recipes…a match made in heaven?

Gut issues and OT intervention written in black over a drawing of a brain with one side coloured in rainbow watercolour splotches

Gut issues and OT intervention

Student PlacementOccupational Therapy

Occupational therapy (OT) interventions cover a wide range of strategies and techniques. The aim is to help an individual achieve optimal functioning when participating in daily activities. But what if your mind is keen to partake in the interventions but your gut issues are saying no!! In March 2023 Ronnie, a student doing their placement…Continue reading Gut issues and OT intervention

A red stop sigh with the word 'go' spray painted on it is faded into the backgroun. Medical Gaslighting is written over that in bold black font.

Medical gaslighting

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

Medical gaslighting is a term that refers to The dismissal or invalidation of a patients symptoms, concerns or feelings by a medical professional. The patient isn’t taken seriously, and the healthcare professional does not properly investigate. Instead, they usually attribute the symptoms to being psychological. After spending time on placement with Jo I felt a…Continue reading Medical gaslighting

Sport Mode

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

I was first introduced to the term “sport mode” by Jo. We were discussing why silly and preventable injuries happen more frequently than those from extreme activities. Hopefully, this blog post provides some insight into why this phenomenon may happen and how we can prevent injuries and pain in the future. What is Sport Mode?  …Continue reading Sport Mode

Burnout written in chunky block text diagonally across the screen. The text is surrounded by workplace stationary items. Calculator, pen, clipboard note books etc.

Burnout in Healthcare

Student PlacementOccupational Therapy

Most people have experienced burnout in some way or another. Whether you have a draining job, childcare responsibilities, an energy limiting condition, or perhaps (like many) the daily demands of simply existing are causing it – burnout is an epidemic. So what is burnout? The WHO defines it as ‘a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from…Continue reading Burnout in Healthcare

Occupations written in gold on a dark green background with matching gold filigree decorates each corner.

Occupations: What we do

Student PlacementOccupational Therapy

I wanted to write a blog post about occupations and what this means in the context of occupational therapy.  When you hear the word ‘occupations’ most people will think that it’s work / job related. Occupations are not just employment. They are any task that we spend our energy and time on that is essential…Continue reading Occupations: What we do

Chronic Pain written on a cream background. Three cartoons show graphics representing pain with characters curled up surrounded by lightning bolts.

Understanding Pain Part 2: Chronic Pain

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

Hello again everyone. I hope you enjoyed learning all about pain in my last blog! That was just a basic overview of pain in general. This time I want to talk about chronic pain and central sensitisation. Hopefully this will give you a better understanding of what happens and why. Before coming on this placement,…Continue reading Understanding Pain Part 2: Chronic Pain

Fatigue Management -written in purple over a grey and white torn paper effect background.

Fatigue – How can we manage it ourselves?

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

I’m pretty sure most people reading this will have experienced fatigue of some kind. And I don’t mean the ‘Oh gosh I’m so tired, it’s been such a long day’ kind of fatigue. I mean the ‘I can’t bring myself to get out of bed this morning’ kind of fatigue. I have experienced this kind…Continue reading Fatigue – How can we manage it ourselves?

Link between neurodiversity and hypermobility written over an image of a woman bending forwards to stretch and a head silhouette with a rainbow infinity symbol in it.

Link Between Neurodiversity and Hypermobility

Student PlacementMDT Corner

Having a chronic illness like a hypermobility disorder commonly comes with different co-morbidities. Dysautonomia problems like PoTS, chronic fatigue and pain, gastrointestinal problems, and visual stress just to name a few. A few co-morbidities that are commonly seen in people with hypermobility is neurodivergent conditions like Autism (ASD) and ADHD. In this blog post I…Continue reading Link Between Neurodiversity and Hypermobility