NEURO ASPECTS - SIMS 1

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     As part of the Neuro Aspects course I'm taking in OT school, I participated in a clinical simulation encounter today during which I administered a cognitive screening to a person with a recent history of stroke. It was a very interesting experience where I got to learn a lot first hand administering an assessment and analyzing what I did well on and what I need to work on. Cognition focuses on an individual's attention and understanding. Cognition is about how the person reasons with things and how they see things. It's part of many aspects of an individual, like how they think, their memory, mobility, vision, and even every aspect of their lifestyle. 
     The client scored a 16 on the SLUMS test, which we didn't complete so he had more questions left. This score indicated that he had dementia. He knew what he wanted to say but he got frustrated at certain points when he had difficulties and it was a bit hard. In a hospital, home and community setting, someone functional challenges that someone who scored similarly on this type of assessment  would have functional challenges like understanding what they are told, forgetfulness, safety, language problems, social withdrawal and disorientation.  These are some of the common signs seen with people with dementia. 
Explaining what OT is to the client wasn't hard for me but I feel like I mumbled because there's always so much I want to say about Occupational Therapy, we help people in so many ways but the main focuses are the client's important occupations. I adapted my "elevator speech" based on the client's level of understanding by using what he explained was wrong with him when I asked him how he was doing. That gave me a bit of an idea of what i can use to explain my role for him to best understand and make it applicable to him.
     Something I feel I did well during the encounter is reassuring the client when he was in doubt and making sure the feel comfortable while I administer the assessment. These assessments sometimes make the clients very nervous and don't and they don't do well even when you tell them it's not a pass or fail. If there was an opportunity for me to re-do, one thing I would do differently is to focus on the problem the client has, especially when I have him the pen to at the midline for him to have better access and also adapt to the patients likes especially when the things I use for example don't fit what they like. My big takeaway from this entire process is to be prepared for these assessments and know how to word things especially when the client doesn't understand the vocabulary thats used. Going forward, I'll use what I've learned to be more adaptable and understanding to the needs of the client and express understanding and reassurance better so they feel more safe.


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