Occupational Therapy group to sponsor events to promote field

April 3, 2006 —

The Student Occupational Therapy Association will be putting on events this month to spread the word about the organization and the programs SVSU offers in the Occupational Therapy field.

Some of the events will include a team for Relay For Life, providing hand massages to people passing by in the Courtyard. Also teaming up with Student Association, they plan to have wheelchair races and other activities that involve OT.

"A few of us did Relay For Life last year, but this year to do it as a group is great," says senior Kelly Meucci, an OT major.

According to Meucci, the month's activities are aimed to teach people how to work on being in different situations that require different ways of doing everyday things. She says they will be having students try "Adaptive Equipment," which will include eating, putting on clothes, and tying shoes one-handed.

Some of the undergraduates in the OT program, are in charge of the Heath and Wellness program this year. From this program, students will learn backpack awareness, how to carry their bag safely to avoid back problems, and how to pack a bag properly. De-stress techniques will also be presented to students and faculty, such as exercise advice, being able to plan ahead, and how to be organized.

"Some people may not have heard of OT if they haven't had an injury or anything" Meucci says. "We help people do the daily activities of living. That's our biggest thing."

Occupational Therapy is offered at SVSU as a Heath Science major and is now a Master's Program. It is a health and rehabilitation profession. It provides services to individuals of all ages whose abilities to cope with tasks of living are impaired by physical injury or illness, psychological and social disability, or developmental disabilities.

The job of an occupational therapist is to design a rehabilitation process individually for each client through evaluation and treatment, and seek to achieve restoration or improvement of impaired functions.

"We have to know not only the physical side, but also the psychological side of rehabilitation as well," Meucci says.

The career field is very broad, with many opportunities available. Nursing homes, schools, psychology units, and even the Army are all viable paths to pursue following graduation from the program.

In the past, the organization has volunteered, going to local schools, teaching backpack awareness to first graders. They raised money this past Christmas for a local family that was unable to purchase one on their own, along with presents for the children, delivering it to their house.

Pi Theta Epsilon is the honors society for occupational therapy students, and it currently has eight members. Meucci is the vice president and says an induction will take place this year, as some undergrads have been accepted.

The group's annual newsletter will be distributed this week, citing what the organization hopes to accomplish in the future, along with what has been done this year as well. The small group likes to keep busy volunteering and working with children especially.

To further spread the word about OT and the April activities, they are hanging posters and painting windows in Brown Hall. They are also making flyers for freshmen and undecided majors, informing them of the option of majoring in OT.