By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

In the past, nursing homes were largely regarded as an elderly person’s final residence. After living a long and independent life and then suffering a debilitating injury or chronic illness that compromises their independence, it was generally accepted that the person would be more than happy to spend the rest of the life in a state of peaceful rest and relaxation, playing cards in the community room and having their every personal needs taken care of. This may all change with the aging baby boomers.

Aging members of the baby boomer population notoriously relish their independence, freedom and resilience. This will likely extend to their attitude on illness, injury and their expectations for recovery.  Add to the mix the fact that seniors in this demographic are working longer and therefore are most likely transitioning directly from an active work and personal life directly to injury and illness, with no traditional retirement hiatus in between.  Occupational therapists and traveling occupational therapists already working with this age group are probably seeing their patients’ distinct unwillingness to rest or relax after suffering a health setback – no matter how severe.  In fact, occupational therapy is a hot service item in nursing homes for patients who, rather than settling into the role of “nursing home resident” are using the facilities as temporary rehabilitation pit stops between injury and recovery.

Consider that as of 2008 there were 78 million baby boomers, well over 4000 long term care facilities such as nursing homes and 1.4 million residents in those facilities. As patients in this demographic start seeking out occupational therapy versus bingo on a regular basis, the demand for occupational therapists and travel occupational therapists may increase even more than already predicted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (23 percent by 2016).

Additional Sources Used: U.S. Census Bureau

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

By Christine Whitmarsh, RN, BSN

If an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure than physical therapists, occupational therapists and traveling rehab therapists in these fields have many reasons to be optimistic. It is important for rehab therapists including traveling physical therapists and travel occupational therapists to remind the public that it’s not necessary to wait until something is broken, pulled, strained, dislocated or twisted before seeking the services of a therapist.  Here are some specific patient demographics for traveling therapists with a passion for patient preventative education to target for assessments and consultations.

Elderly Patients: Fall prevention, balance and core stability are key preventative measures for this age group. Traveling occupational therapists can also focus on risks that elderly patients encounter in their activities of daily living.

Weekend Warriors: Teach these ambitious folks to seek out therapy before they find themselves sprawled on the basketball floor or at the bottom of a ski slope. They can benefit from ROM assessments, teaching about proper warm up and stretching techniques and an assessment to determine their health level for desired sports and activities along with recommendations for maximum exertion levels.

Office Workers: Therapists are a valuable source of info for employees at risk for carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive use injury and other ergonomic issues.

Child Athletes: Physical therapists are an excellent resource for young athletes and their parents to learn about how to prevent injuries and assessments for any movement, alignment or balance issues that place the child at a higher risk for problems.

All of the Above: All individuals suffering the regular aches and pains of life can benefit from a therapy assessment to learn how a more conservative therapy approach may benefit them more than their medications or other forms of current relief.

Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.

Recently, members of Allied Travel Careers attended the 2009 AOTA Conference & Expo. The conference, held from April 23-26 in Houston was great success for us. We met a lot occupational therapists and student OTs along with a few current and existing clients. We believe that the future is bright for occupational therapists and we hope that we got some of them interested in occupational therapy travel jobs.

We came loaded with goodies which kept us busy at our booth throughout the conference. One of the attractions at our location was the fact that we were giving away an Acer notebook computer, which is a lot of computer in a very small package. We thought that it would be ideal for an occupational therapist requiring flexibility and mobility in a computing device.

We would like to thank the hundreds of visitors to our booth that entered our contest. But of course, there can only be one winner. And that winner is…

Donna Stressel-Occupational Therapist- Schenectady, NY

Our congratulations go to Donna Stressel, an occupational therapist at the Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady, NY. Donna has been an OT for 23 years and has been employed at Sunnyview for 18 years. She is one of two full-time OTs focused exclusively on driver rehab. Her clients and the conditions she treats are quite varied. She works with licensed drivers undergoing rehabilitation attempting to return to normal life after a stroke, brain injury, spinal cord trauma and other conditions. She also assists first time drivers with conditions such as spina bifida and other disabilities who may require special equipment in order to operate a motor vehicle and do so safely. Donna also works with seniors and assesses ability and makes recommendations that consider age, reflexes and cognitive response. Donna is married and has a 5-year old daughter.

Once again, we congratulate Donna Stressel and we thank all of those who visited us and entered our drawing. We will be back next year to spread the word once again about the benefits and unique opportunities associated with becoming a traveling occupational therapist.