Media Project: Parkinson's Disease

 

    Hi there readers! Today I am going to be discussing an occupational therapy intervention idea for my case study project centered around a client diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD). I was assigned a muffin tin as my house-hold object to create my intervention around. My assigned client is an elderly adult who values interacting with her colleagues and maintaining a relationship with her husband. Her diagnosis of PD has not only impacted her social life but also her trunk stability, gross motor skills and fine motor skills. She has mild tremors with increase of severity when she is performing activities, as well as secondary diagnosis of cataracts causing impaired vision acuity. 

    Initially I had the thought to do some kind of game, similar to the child’s fishing game using a small magnetic fishing pole. When I thought more into this idea I realized that this client would more than likely not be too interested in anything too “childish” based off her thoughts about OT. So when I started to brainstorm I kept thinking, how can I use this muffin tin to cater to her love of communication without using technology? Then bingo! Let’s imitate a computer! 

    This client would previously interact with others on her computer at home but since she is now in a SNF and does not have that access, I thought this magnetic letter board would be ideal for her since her handwriting is illegible. Communication with her friends and family is very important to her so I believe this would allow her to continue her love for writing, as well as practicing fine motor skills when grasping the small tongs to pick up the letters and gross motor skills when lifting her arm to place the letters on the board. She can only currently sit unsupported for 5 minutes before sliding/leaning and 30 seconds before slouching. I want to highlight how this intervention can promote core stability by altering the type of seating support of the client while doing this activity. For my letters I chose to do bright colored and larger sized letters to compensate for the client's visual dysfunction. 

Materials:

Muffin tin, magnetic letters, magnetic whiteboard, picture stand, tongs 

*Note: I have a lightweight pair of tongs pictured but weighted tongs would be recommended to lessen the upper extremity tremors in hands.