Devlynn, good evening,
Thank you for your insightful discussion. I am interested in the various health concerns in those who identify as transgender. You stated, “They experience difficulties engaging in occupations due to various health experiences, diagnoses, and/or disorders.” I agree with you and found an upsetting health concern with suicide attempts.
Nearly 14% of adolescents reported a previous suicide attempt; disparities by gender
identity in suicide attempts were found. Female to male adolescents reported the highest
rate of attempted suicide (50.8%), followed by adolescents who identified as not exclusively
male or female (41.8%), male to female adolescents (29.9%), questioning adolescents
{27.9%), female adolescents (17.6%), and male adolescents (9.8%). (Toomey et al., 2018).
Our role as practitioners in suicide awareness and working with the survivors, and those at risk, along with family members, requires practitioners to be “aware of the contributing factors to suicide and be able to provide an appropriate response” (Novalis, 2017). Devlynn, can you share how you have implemented suicide awareness, or can you share ideas so that we can promote suicide awareness?
Occupational therapy practitioners have several tools to assess patients; furthermore, (Novalis, 2017) stated, “it is imperative that practitioners consider their therapeutic approaches and interventions, based at minimum, on models of practice, frames of references, and the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework.” The Framework can assist practitioners in constructing a clinical approach that supports the holistic views of our discipline. Devlynn, can you share any specific assessments that we could use to gather information about our patient’s interests?
As a practitioner, we can focus on our patient and their family’s awareness of signs and symptoms that mirror psychiatric conditions. We could also address the significance of medication management. According to (Novalis, 2017), “Contingency plans are particularly useful if the client can participate in creating the plan, as a means, in some sense, to self-direct appropriate action in the event of a relapse.” After further research, the Framework defines prevention as “education or health promotion efforts designed to identify, reduce, or prevent the onset and reduce the incidence of unhealthy conditions, risk factors, disease, or injuries” (AOTA, 2014, p. S44). Last semester I had a course called Theoretical Framework for Occupational Therapist and I learned so much information. After reading this research article and completing my research, I realized just how vital the Framework is to our discipline.
As practitioners working with these individuals, we must provide appropriate interventions that are meaningful to the patient, followed by assessing and implementing the patient’s interest. We could also use the therapeutic use of self-technique to engage our patients in the interventions. Implementing appropriate interventions, interests, and therapeutic use of self, we will facilitate an optimal experience and outcome for our patients.
I agree with you that our discipline has a pivotal role in suicide awareness, working with the
survivors, and those at risk, along with family members.
Respectfully,
Jade N. Clement, OTAS
References:
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). Occupational therapy practice.
Domain & process. Bethesda, MD
Suicide Awareness and Occupational Therapy for Suicide Survivors (n.d.). Retrieved
from https://www.aota.org/CE-Article-Novemember-pdf.