Occupational Therapy Client Analysis

Occupational Therapy takes a client-centered approach to each individual and unique client. This client is Martha. She is 78. She was admitted to the hospital after suffering a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), or stroke. It began when she experienced a choking episode and weakness in her right side. The CVA resulted in right hemiplegia and aphasia. Martha has partial paralysis in the right half of her body and cannot verbally communicate. Her primary role is a homemaker. She graduated with a high school education but never pursued a profession. She is the wife of a healthy and supportive 80 year old man. He intends to care for her at home with private assistance. Some of Martha’s meaningful occupations are playing games such as bingo, solitaire and bridge. She also finds satisfaction in tending to her garden.

As an Occupational Therapist, it is crucial to consider the wellbeing of Martha as a whole person. She is not merely a stroke patient. She is a homemaker, wife, and game enthusiast. Two conditions hindering her accomplishment of these meaningful occupations are her motor planning deficit and the lack of functionality in her right upper extremity (RUE). Martha has difficulty following multi- step commands, and relies heavily on the assistance of others with mobility, transfers, and activities of daily living (ADLs). Despite these, two of her strengths are her abilities to consistently answer yes/no questions by moving her head, and the mobility of her left upper extremity (LUE). She is alert and oriented to herself, and the strength and sensation in her LUE are within functional limits. These factors shape a client’s Occupational Therapy experience.

Martha’s strengths and weaknesses are important to consider when planning a...

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... separate from her home, a situation Relph called “existential outsideness,” as she goes through therapy at the inpatient rehab facility. As the intervention plan is developed, and tailored to Martha’s environmental demands, goals, and routines, she will begin to regain her sense of existential insideness. This will fully be restored when she returns home. The value of place to Martha, physically, socially and autobiographically, requires an Occupational Therapist to understand her home environment, keep her meaningful occupations in mind, and remember her roles as an occupational being.

Works Cited

Seamon, D. (2014). Physical and virtual environments: meaning of place and space. In B.A.B. Schell, G. Gillen, & M.E. Scaffa (Eds). Willard & Spackman's occupational therapy (12th ed., pp. 202 - 214). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.