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Rebuilding Together This has been a busy month for the community awareness committee. I send out a very big thanks to Sally Riddle, Toby Hamilton & Kendra Orcutt. Although this was a smaller scale project this year, I felt that we made a great impact on the people we met. We performed safety assessments on 4 homes that Rebuilding Together will be working on April 12th. One client is a very independent 97 year old who is living at home alone for many years. If it weren’t for the safety modifications made to her home, she would surely fall down the stairs in her home someday soon. Another client was unable to get into the garage to do laundry or care for her dog without modifications.
Backpack Awareness Day
I would like to thank OOTA and its members for the opportunity to serve you as the chair of the community promotions committee. It has been a great experience promoting a profession that I am passionate about and meeting other therapists who feel the same way. I have had the pleasure of working with an energetic and devoted committee and we have had some nice success in promoting occupational therapy through various OT Month activities. I am pleased to announce that Marlene Snow has agreed to step in as the chair of the committee. With Marlene’ involvement in Rebuilding Together, project that has been endorsed by AOTA, future opportunities for the committee are endless. Thank you again for this opportunity. Mary Isaacson
Community Promotions: The Community Promotions Committee met over lunch during the annual OOTA meeting held in Oklahoma City. Thirteen very creative members developed a new and exciting plan for 2007 that includes meeting with area managers and store managers, utilizing educational strategies, adaptive equipment and raised flower beds to promote occupational therapy in a very meaningful way to Lowe’s Home Improvement Store Consumers during the pre-gardening season. If you are interested in being a part of this exciting event scheduled for March 31st, 2007, contact Mary Isaacson at 918-660-3272 or mary-isaacson@ouhsc.edu
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Oklahoma Occupational Therapy Association |
National
School Backpack Awareness Day took place on Wednesday, September 19th.
First and second year Occupational Therapy students from the University of
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and a few area clinicians helped local students
kick off the school year with interesting safety tips and fun backpack games.
OT students from OU participated in promoting safety and wellness tips to 9
different elementary schools in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas. All students
and their backpacks were weighed to determine what percent of their body weight
they were carrying around on their back. It has been reported that the average
student carries their backpack with 25% of his or her body
weight when the recommended carrying weight should not exceed 15% of body
weight. If OT’s can help students learn tips such as how to carry their
backpack properly and what is the safest kind of backpack, we may be able to
prevent unnecessary accidents related to body mechanics. Students at OU were
proud to be a part of this informative event.