The Memory Unit OT

Technically it’s still summer, right? Beach balls are ‘in season’ right now, so to say, and I’ve got 3 super easy interventions you can incorporate into your treatments today.

Upper Body Strengthening and Cardiopulmonary Endurance Training.

This is one of my all time favorite interventions. It is super easy, patients and residents typically understand it right away, and you can modify it to fit just about any individual. Strategy: play catch, but with added resistance. My favorite form of resistance is a weighted rod. I ask the resident to hold the rod horizontally across the chest with both hands, and ask them to use the rod to bounce the beach ball back to me after I toss it to them. I love using this for musculoskeletal strengthening, but also for cardiopulmonary endurance training. And I can do this with people who are in bed, in a chair, seated on the low mat, or standing.

How to Objectively Document:

• For Strengthening: document the weight of the rod; the number of repetitions tolerated; the amount of sets performed; the position the resident was in (lying, sitting, standing).
• For Cardiopulmonary: test and document SPO2 and heart rate before, during, and after activity; amount of time they tolerated the activity; the position the resident was in (lying, sitting, standing); the amount of time for recovery between sets.

Dynamic Balance and Mobility.

This is another easy intervention that can be modified in so many ways. Strategy: kick the ball, but in modified techniques to address balance. You could address sitting balance by performing the activity while the resident is seated on the mat without back support. This could be upgraded by elevating the mat so that they’re feet no longer touch the floor. You could make this a group activity by having multiple residents volley the ball between one another. You could also work on dynamic standing balance and walking by asking the resident to kick the ball around the room or up the hallway.

How to Objectively Document:

• the position the resident was in (sitting, standing); how much assist required to maintain upright positioning; how many rest breaks were taken and for how long/why; number of instances of loss of balance; any abnormalities in gait, posture, or motor planning

Cognition.

This is a great strategy because it incorporates gross motor activity with a cognitive-based intervention. Strategy: play a game of question and answer, but with an added gross motor component. Write questions down on each colored section of the beach ball. Then toss the ball back and forth. When the resident catches the ball, they are encouraged to answer whatever question is facing them at the time of the catch. You can grade this by using open-ended v. close-ended questions or utilizing multiple choice. You can also modify the questions based on the overall goal of the task. So you might use safety-based questions, personal history questions, personal preference questions, this or that questions, ‘would you rather’ style questions, or trivia style questions.

How to Objectively Document:

• number of questions written on the ball; the style of questions used; the environment the activity was performed in; if any other residents were included in the activity; duration of time the resident could attend to the task; if the resident required downgrading of the question or changes in the question (ie. changing an open-ended question to a multiple choice question mid-activity); number of questions answered correctly vs. incorrectly

Let me know how you’re modifying these ideas to fit your patients – Happy Treating!!