I am an Occupational Therapy Student at WINTEC. This blog has been set up as part of a course called Participation in Occupation. In Participation in Occupation we will be using different tools and technologies to explore Human Occupation and how people use digital technology to take part in occupations that are meaningful to them.
Our group decided to do our video on Occupational Disruption. We started off by making a story board for the short video, once we had planned it, we used the video camara and tripod to film it. After this we created music online and edited the video on Window's Movie Maker.
Occupation Disruption is described as:
"A Transient or temporary condition of
being restricted from participation in necessary or meaningful occupations,
such as that caused by illness, temporary relocation, or temporary
unemployment".
Christiansen, C. H., & Townsend, E. A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living (2nd
ed.). New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc
The occupation of having morning tea was chosen as this
was a daily occurrence at the rest home on my first placement. The residents
enjoyed morning tea as it was a good time to socialise, have fun and plan out
the day’s activities. Morning tea always occurred at ten am as this was the
time when all the residents were up and been through their morning routines
such as self cares. Morning tea was important as it indicated that an activity
session was going to start afterwards.
Doing- “The concept of doing indicates purposeful,
goal-oriented activities; doing has been the traditional preoccupation of
occupational therapy”
Being- “Being has been defined as time taken to reflect,
be introspective or meditative, (re)discover the self, savour the moment... and
to enjoy being with special people”
Become- “Becoming describes the idea that people can envision future
selves and possible lives, explore new opportunities and harbour ideas ...how
their lives might be experienced as worthwhile”
Belong- “Belonging, within a network of social support can underpin both
the ability to do and contribute to the pleasure and meaningfulness of doing”
(Hammell, 2004, p.302)
Reference:
Hammell, K. W. (2004). Dimensions
of meaning in the occupations of daily life. Canadian Journal of
Occupational Therapy, 71(5), 296-305.
All photo's were gained from free access internet sites to ensure ethical considerations were taken. Photo's taken were not of Rest Home residents but of friends who gave consent to be published in this blog.
Friday, 9 March 2012
Information Technology and Ethical Issues
Information technology refers to the technology of the production, storage and communication of information using computers and microelectronics (Collins, 2004). Information Technology is anything related to computing technology such as, networking, hardware, software and the Internet. Many corporate companies now have IT departments that manage the networks, computers and other technical areas in a business.
In this day and age, IT is a very important part of many people’s lives. Most people use IT every day to communicate with others and for various other tasks. Information Technology has made it easier to interact with people, for example, by using various sites and programs such as Facebook and Skype, a person can talk face to face with somebody who may live on the other side of the world. There are many games online, interactive games where people of any age group can interact in a safe environment, learn about each other’s culture as well as forming a good friendship.
As a child I grew up in a household where IT was used a lot this has allowed me to become very confident using Information Technology. From the age of 3 I was using a computer for games, software for learning and many other things. I taught myself to use many computer programs such as Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher and many other software including Photoshop and Moviemaker. As a teenager, I rely on my cell phone for keeping in contact with my friends and family, I rely on my computer for emails, social networking, music, school work, entertainment and keeping contact with my friends who live overseas. At high school I took classes that relied on the use of IT and because of this I feel very comfortable navigating my way through different programs.
On my first placement, a rest home in Auckland, IT was used in various ways. The staff used computers to type reports, store information, communicate with external providers, order supplies and to keep in contact with the residents families. Information regarding a particular diagnosis could be easily accessed through the Internet. Digital cameras were often used to take pictures of the residents and activities that they enjoyed to partake in. These pictures would then be placed into an album for the residents and their families to look through.
It is important for Occupational Therapists to keep up to date with technology as it is always changing and is a great way to keep in contact and help clients. Occupational Therapists may find that as technology is changing, so are the clients and many clients may find meaningful occupation through technology. Having a good knowledge of IT will help Occupational Therapists engage with clients that have an interest in IT.
Ethics:
There can be many ethical implications from using Information Technology, implications can arise from the capturing, sharing and transferring of information through devices such as computers and phones onto the Internet. A major ethical issue surrounding IT is privacy. It is important to always consider the person’s privacy when posting on social networking sites and blogs for example. It is always a good idea to ensure you have received informed consent before sharing any information regarding others. The privacy of yourself or others can be easy violated by posting information onto sites that can be freely accessed by the public.
Reference:
Collins. (2004). The Collins English Dictionary. Glasgow: HarperCollins.
