Imagine being unable to use your dominant arm, to write or brush your teeth...for many of our wounded, ill and injured Soldiers, this is reality.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Occupational Therapists helping Soldiers adjust to new realities. Since 1980, April is the month where we celebrate OTs and their role in the healthcare profession.
Often described as a valued profession, within our Army's Warrior Transition Units, occupational therapists play a key role in helping our wounded ill and injured Soldiers adjust to a new normal and attain a sense of independence in the face of functional changes that sometimes pose life-long challenges.
It's this quality of transformation that attracted Elena Plionis, Warrior Care and Transition's Occupational Therapy Consultant to the profession.
"I've always wanted a job helping people that requires some measure of creativity. Working in the WTU has provided a unique opportunity to treat not just the direct impact of the initial injury or illness, but the damage it causes to one's routine and self-definition. You don't see that emphasis much in the private sector," said Plionis.
OTs are present throughout the healthcare system and are trained with a holistic approach with treatment tending to be focused on specific conditions. At the WTU, all conditions and injuries are seen with the focus and purpose being optimal transition.
"An Army OT's main objective is to recover Soldier skills and abilities to return them to duty. If returning to duty is not possible, then a well-planned rehab program is necessary to facilitate a successful and meaningful transition to veteran status," said Army Col. Matthew St Laurent, a licensed occupational therapist and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Warrior Care and Transition.
"I have the privilege to lead a team of passionate staff, cadre and clinicians in transitioning Soldiers and their families through their care, recovery and back to the force or reintegration back into the civilian community," he continued.
Collen Daugherty, an OT at Ft. Sam Houston's WTU, sees her job as an OT as a way to have a positive impact on her patient's life. "My job is to educate both staff and my patient what qualify of life is," Daugherty said. "I want them to know that just because we have a physical or emotional change to our life, we don't have to let that issue control our future. We can become independent again through some changes, modifications and use of needed basic tasks including eating and grooming or more complex items such as managing one's finances. These are also known as activities of daily living or ADLs."
Pilonis recalled a story that exemplifies the role an OT can play in Soldier's recovery. "While at Walter Reed I worked with a Certified Occupational Therapist and a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor to help a Soldier with sight issues who wanted to become a barber," Pilonis began. "The counselor was not sure and did not initially back the proposal, but the Soldier felt differently. So I went out with the Soldier to the barber shop and we talked with the director, I looked at the environment, assessed the lighting and customer traffic in the shop while learning more about the barbering trade. From there, I was able to provide an assessment and accommodation recommendations to the barber school and Counselor allowed us to arrange a trial period for the Soldier."
There are nearly fifty OTs and assistants within the WTUs with a wide range of experiences including; behavioral health, cognitive, and musculoskeletal care along with day-to-day experiences vary along with Soldier needs across the WTUs. And all of them are looking to make impacts that improve lives of Soldiers in transition and help them thrive in their new reality.
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