Category: Everyday Aids & Lifestyle Adaptations

Everyday Aids & LifestyleAdaptations to help manage chronic illnesses and variable disabilities.

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?

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

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?

A students survival guide to placement - transferrable skills written over a white background.. There are 4 images in the corners showing a learning themed images.

A Student’s Survival guide to Placement – transferable skills

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

Welcome everybody to my second blog post! My name is Charlie and I’m a third-year OT student. I’ve been working with Jo over the past 9 weeks. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with all of the wonderful people in the JBOT community. As you may have guessed from the title and from my little…Continue reading A Student’s Survival guide to Placement – transferable skills

Festive season tips written in calligraphy style font over a sparkly background

Festive Season Tips

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

The holiday season can be difficult for the able-bodied, let alone for those of us with a long-term condition. Stress. Fatigue. People. Indulgent food. Long days. They are all factors that can exacerbate our symptoms and make us feel horrific. So, how can we help ourselves to get through this time of the year and…Continue reading Festive Season Tips

pale blue background with 4 images. A rock climber, a rubiks cube, clay on a pottery wheel and writing in a book. Text reads tips for learning a new skill

Want to learn a new skill? Here are some study/work methods that can help you learn

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

Studying and learning a new skill can be hard! Especially if it’s not something that comes naturally at first. Whether it’s learning to play guitar, revising for an exam or generally just being more productive at work. I have collated some evidence-based techniques that can be used to help you make the most of your…Continue reading Want to learn a new skill? Here are some study/work methods that can help you learn

My 5 favourite kitchen gadgets written in a brown tone bubble over a photo of a kitchen

Mel’s 5 favourite kitchen gadgets

Student PlacementAids & Equipment

My 5 favourite kitchen gadgets that might just make life a teeny bit easier! As highlighted in my previous post, we use activity analysis to think about the ways a task could be made easier. A lot of the time, using equipment is the easiest way adapt the way in which a task is done.…Continue reading Mel’s 5 favourite kitchen gadgets

"Activity analysis. We talk about it in in pacing but how do put it into practice" written in green on a white piece of paper held on a clopboard. the desk also has a much and a pot plant on it

Activity Analysis

Student PlacementCoping Strategies

For an able-bodied person, tasks such as making a sandwich can seem ‘a piece of cake’.   Task, such as making a ham sandwich for an ‘able bodied’ person.  1.Clear a flat working area in the kitchen.  2. Take butter and ham out of the fridge and the bread out of the bread bin. Take knives…Continue reading Activity Analysis