Spring Newsletter 2007

Special Interest
Articles:
• VOTA Conference
Announcement!
• Cognitive Changes and
Aging


Vermont Occupational Therapy Association / Spring Issue


President Report:
I am happy to report that the AOTA ASAP meeting in St. Louis was a
wonderful success. Many new motions were put into place, which will assist
in the movement toward reaching the centennial vision. Please find the time
to peruse the AOTA website to review the changes happening at the
national level.
Even though the AOTA conference is gigantic, I was able to come across
many familiar Vermont faces.
Since the last newsletter, VOTA has assembled a legislative committee and
an AdHoc committee for investigating the need for a Vermont OT Academic
program. The first official meetings will commence this month. We welcome
all members and potential members to join these meetings as we continue to
crave new thoughts and perspective.
April, as we know, was OT Month. I had the extreme pleasure to
participation a month long celebration at Fanny Allen Rehab. Each therapist
was highlighted on a community bulletin board; every Thursday presented a
new interdisciplinary team contest, and the community had the opportunity to
be educated on different topics typically addressed in occupational therapy.
The last Thursday of the month finished with a whopping ice cream sundae
social.
Backpack awareness day is quickly approaching and we wish to connect
with as many school based OT practitioners to help us spread the word
about backpack health. This year, we wish to have a booth at the University
Mall where we are able to promote backpack health. We will also conduct a
raffle to give away a backpack that meets the standards of our profession.
VOTA is looking for volunteers to look after this booth, represent VOTA and
promote backpack health. All volunteers will be awarded a certificate of
participation along with contact hours.
June 3rd we will welcome Mary Jo McGuire MS, OTR/L, FAOTA to Vermont.
She will present the workshop titled: Occupational Therapy Services For the
Client with Cognitive-Perceptual Disorders. This course will be located at
Fletcher Allen Healthcare in the Davis Auditorium. VOTA encourages you to
pre register before May 15th to get the best rate! See website for details. I
hope to see you there.
On a person note, I am proud to say that as an inventor and finding the
entrepreneurial spirit, I have successfully invented a device that will be
patented, manufactured and distributed to the rehab community. If you are a
VNA or SNF OT practitioner, you may have seen the prototype named the
‘Arm Escort’. This device is used to safely manage the hemiplegic arm during
transfers while not confining it to a slinged position. The patents learn quickly
how to use it and have learned to attend to their arm quickly. You will find it in
the Maddak catalog soon. Perhaps in other catalogs before the year is up!
Joni

Vice President:
Greeting Everyone!! I assume everyone is gearing up for summer time – nice
weather and vacations! Let us not forget that VOTA needs volunteers all year round
to make each event a success; I hope VOTA will see an increase of members and
an increase of member participation. I am disappointed to report that VOTA did not
get one single entry in the OT Month Contest. Everyone passed up the opportunity
(a very simple opportunity) to win a free membership to VOTA for 2007!
Unfortunately, no one rose to the occasion.
Joni and I took part in a pre OT Month activity. This past March, Joni and I
attended the Franklin County Job Expo held in St. Albans. VOTA had its own booth
to educate the public on occupational therapy, promote our organization and
network! The morning of the event, over 500 students were bused in from
neighboring school districts. We met many students, many of whom are in a
technical program or allied health programs and have been exposed to various
health professions. We were very impressed to see that the majority of students
knew what OT was and many seem genuinely interested in learning more and
finding information regarding OT programs and curriculums. This solidified to us
that Vermont is in need of a program to keep interested students in Vermont to fulfill
our vacancies. Many students participated in hemi-dressing activities, low vision
tasks, adaptive equipment training and listened to our definitions of activities of
daily living.
VOTA was also asked to attend schools around the state to educate student
on occupational therapy; share the role of OT and discuss OT programs. Please let
me know if you would be interested in going to various schools around the state to
partake in this event; I can help make arrangements. In order to secure the future of
OT, we must act now and educate the up and coming generations.
On behalf of VOTA, I propose another challenge to VOTA members to get
involved! I would like to get a group of members (and non-members) to do
fundraiser walks. Relay for Life will take place in late June, American Heart will take
place mid May and Walk by the Lake will take place in mid July.
Please contact me if you would like to do a walk; we can get organized and register
as a group.
Please check out the vote website (www.vtot.org) to get information on
VOTA’s spring conference regarding cognitive and perceptual disorders and OT
practice. This promises to be a great day of learning and networking with other
practitioners. Feel free to email me with any questions.
VOTA is working hard to plan another fun filled and
educational fall conference. This year’s conference will be held at
the Holiday Inn in Burlington, Vermont. Our keynote speaker will be
Patrick Standen. VOTA held a successful call for papers for presentation and poster submissions. Looks like there will be a nice variety of topics; there will also be poster presentations and many exhibitors. VOTA again will hold a raffle to keep the
Diane Aja Scholarship alive to allow VOTA to send members to national conference. Help VOTA keep the
tradition alive! Please get in touch with me with ideas for conference/events or for questions.
As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” I can’t stress enough how I need collaboration from everyone to provide you with the best continuing education experiences.
Thanks!
~Jessica
vicepresident@vtot.org

Secretary:
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight an evidence-based journal club that has been active in
Vermont during the past year. The TRIPSCY (Training & Resources for Interdisciplinary Professionals Serving
Children and Youth) Journal Club is an opportunity for occupational therapists and physical therapists to enhance
their critical appraisal skills while reading the professional literature. This year, as a group, we decided to learn
more about the functional benefits of Botox injections with children with cerebral palsy, handwriting remediation
versus assistive technology, and sensory interventions. As a group we would write a clinical question to guide a
literature search. Key articles were identified and reviewed by club members. Fact sheets are being developed on
each topic which summarize the reviews and the Journal Club discussion.
The Journal Club is a great opportunity to discuss in depth clinical questions and practice with fellow
therapists. Check out the TRIPSCY website to learn more (www.uvm.edu/~cdci/tripscy/).
Also, I had the pleasure of attending AOTA’s Annual Conference in St Louis with my daughter. Aimil has
just completed her first year in the Occupational Therapy entry-level Masters program at the University of Southern
Maine (USM). During the Conference I spent time with other students and faculty from USM and was struck by
their passion for the profession. They were discussing the pros and cons of the Practice Framework, networking
with others about their research projects, attending education sessions and making contacts with prospective
employers. A good time was had by all.
Tricia Parmelee, OTR
Secretary



Shelley Hoak, OTR/L is running for the open treasurer seat. At this
month’s VOTA meeting, on May 17th, she will be introducing herself to the
executive board. Being the wife of a financial officer for a leading nonprofit
organization in Burlington, VT, she has the resources in assisting
VOTA in moving VOTA forward toward a healthy non-profit business.
The executive board members look forward to welcoming her at the
VOTA meeting!

Membership Update:
Thank you to all of those who have joined during OT Month. We now have 44 members. Congratulations to
the Starr Farm Nursing Center crew who have100% membership in VOTA for their full and part-time OTs
and OTAs (that is 6 people in case you are wondering)! Five of those individuals took advantage of the
team/organizational membership and saved money for themselves while supporting their professional
organization. I hear there are more teams in the wings. Consider talking your co-workers or friends into a
team membership- it is $200 for up to five individuals. The team/organizational membership application can
be found online or I can send one to you. Please talk to your fellow OT’s and OTA’s to encourage them to
support their professional organization so that we can continue to provide the website, educational
opportunities and monitoring of professional issues.
Thanks again for your support!
(If you are reading this you must already be a member!)
Barbara Winters, Membership Chair
.
From the Editor:
Greetings Everyone! Hope this spring edition of the VOTA newsletter finds
you all well. The weather has shown us hints of sun and warmth getting me very
excited for the summer to come! I decided to take this opportunity to tell you all
about a conference I recently attended. Early May, I traveled to Orlando, FL for the
Contemporary Forums conference on Brain Injuries. I had an amazing time. We
stayed at a beautiful resort, enjoyed warm weather, and learned some valuable
information helping me to grow as a skilled clinician. Some of the sessions I
attended included serial casing/splinting of the upper extremity, which involved
hands-on labs at Orlando Regional Hospital, Visual Impairments for the
Neurologically Involved Patient, Women Living with TBI, Functional Cognitive Home
Assessments, and Neuroplasticity and Motor Function Change After Acquired Brain
Injury. The Conference was very organized and truly met the needs of many
disciplines working with this population. I look forward to sharing with you all some
of the facts, theories and skills I learned in upcoming newsletters!
I would like to close this update with a request. I am seeking articles for the
VOTA newsletter addressing pediatric Occupational Therapy. I feel this is an area
lacking in out newsletters and I would like to provide a more comprehensive amount
of information to the OT’s in Vermont. Please send any information you would like
to share to newsletter@vtot.org. Thanks! Lindsey Bonsall, OTR/L


.
VOTA PRESENTS:
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY SERVICES
FOR THE CLIENT WITH
COGNITIVE-PERCEPTUAL
DISORDERS
BY: Mary Jo McGuire MS, OTR?L, FAOTA
Saturday June 2, 2007
8:00-5:30
Fletcher Allen Health Care
Davis Auditorium
Burlington Vermont
Print off registration form at www.vtot.org
Thanks and hope to see you there!
Tricia Parmelee, OTR
VOTA Secretary


Advertisements
1/6 page $30.00
1/3 page $50.00
1/2 page $100.00
Full page $80.00
Payment required with
submission.
(Check made payable to
VOTA and mailed to
newsletter editor). All
submissions should be
submitted via email, disc,
or be camera ready.
Contact the newsletter
editor with any
questions.
Deadline for submissions
is Nov. 1st, Feb.
1st, May 1st, and Aug.
1st.
The VOTA Newsletter,
published quarterly
is the official publication
of the Vermont
Occupational Therapy
Association, a non-profit
organization. Circulation
includes members of
VOTA, the AOTA
national office, OT
associations of other
states, and other
interested parties.
Items for the newsletter
may be sent to:
Lindsey Bonsall
91 Park Street
Burlington, VT
05401


Cognitive Changes With Aging by: Jessica Bolduc, OTR/L
 Intelligence: Intact crystallized abilities
 Attention: Decrease in simple, divided and sustained attention
 Language: Decrease word finding, change in vocabulary
 Memory: Ability to learn remains intact, Decrease episodic and working memory
 Executive Function: Slower processing, decrease with abstract thought
Mild Cognitive Impairment
* Criteria: * Treatment:
– Memory complaint (subjective/objective) -Best When started Early
– Intact general cognitive function -Antioxidants (Vit. E)
– Preserved ADLs -Cholinesterase Inhibitors: Aricept
No dementia Improves functional ability not memory
Dementia
 Syndrome:
– Must have memory loss, plus one functional loss, such as language,
visuospatial skills, calculations and executive function
 Can cause change in social or occupational functioning
 Gradual onset and continuous decline
Delirium
 A sudden and acute change in mental status
 Unpredictable fluctuation of symptoms: Worse at night
 Symptoms:
– Variable attention -loose time orientation before place
– Incoherent speech -Short term memory impairment
– Poor reasoning
Delirium Assessment
-UTI? -Dehydration?
-Change in medical condition -Change in medication
-lack of sleep, overexposure -toxins, ETOH
-Confusion Assessment Method -Delirium Rating Scale
-Delirium-O-Meter
Page 6 of 8 VOTA
Diseases that Cause
Dementia
Other Causes Reversible Causes
 Alzheimer’s Disease
 Parkinson’s Disease
 Vascular Disease
 Frontal Lobe Disease
 Lewy Body Disease
 Huntington’s Disease
 Jakob-Creutzfeldt Disease
 Fatigue
 Stress
 Inactivity
 Lack of Structure
 Chronic Pain
 Poor Physical Health
 Vision and Hearing
Problems
 Undiagnosed Medical
Problems (Cardiac)
 Over Medicated
 Depression
 Hydrocephalus (NPH)
 Adverse Drug Reaction
 Metabolic Changes (thyroid)
 Nutritional Deficiencies
(Vit. B)
 Sleep Apnea
Diagnostic Evaluation
 Evaluation by Neurologist, Geriatric Psychiatrist, Geriatrician
 CBC, VDRL, TSH, B12, Folate
 Brain Image
MRI, CT, PET, SPECT
 Neuropsychological Assessment
Screening Tools
 Mini Mental State Exam
 Montreal Cognitive Assessment
 Mini-Cog
 Family Questionnaire
Aging and Cognition continued…


PRESIDENT
Joni Jones
president@vtot.org
VICE PRESIDENT
Jessica Bolduc
jbolduc@pipeline.une.edu
SECRETARY
Tricia Parmelee
secretary@vtot.org
MEMBERSHIP
Barbara Winters
Bwvota@aol.com
NEWSLETTER
EDITOR
Lindsey Bonsall
linzvtot@yahoo.com
AOTA REP.
Linda Kogut
Linda.Kogut@hitchcock.org
AOTA ALTERNATE REP.
Diane Solomon
vtsolomon@verizon.net


Continuing Education Opportunities:
Title: Functional Rehabilitation for the Shoulder
By: Northeast Seminars
Dates: June 2, 2007 to June 3, 2007
Location: Trenton, New Jersey
Contact: www.neseminars.com
1-800-272-2044
Title: Handwriting Without Tears
Dates: June 22, 2007 to June 23, 2007
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Contact: www.hwtears.com


About Our Organization…
The mission of the Vermont Occupational Therapy Association (VOTA) is to promote
and advance occupational therapy practice, research, legislation, and education and to
support occupational therapy practitioners in Vermont. The association serves its
membership by providing services, acting as a public advocate of occupational therapy,
and participating in cooperative interactions to meet the needs of the profession and the
public.

Vermont Occupational Therapy Association
PO Box 5567
Essex Junction, VT
05453-5567

Phone:(802)264-9671
E-Mail: newsletter@vtot.org
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
www.vtot.org