Sex Lecture Blog

There were many key takeaways from the guest lecture. One of the takeaways is that our bodies change as we age, and many people will not know how to deal with the changes because they may feel as though they are not normal. Being able to talk about this subject with our clients will help them feel more comfortable with their body and with their partner.

One intervention is education with the client. Someone in the hospital may have had a hip replacement and have to follow hip precautions, but sex may be an important part of their life with their partner. The OTs will be the ones who will think about the patient as a person, and understand that they need to figure out a new way to have sex. Education can involve making sure they understand what their hip precautions entail, and what new positions they can try so that they do not break hip precautions. They could also need to be educated on energy conservation due to spending time in a hospital bed. This can also include educating the patient on positions that will require the least amount of energy.

Another intervention could be a sex education group session in an assisted living home. Even though the clients may be older, they still have the desire to have sex, so it is important that they are still being safe. While getting pregnant may not be a problem anymore, STIs can still be contracted. They may also be experiencing changes in their body due to aging, so teaching them how to handle these new changes can also occur in this group class. This group can provide socialization for the individuals living in the home, and having other people going through the same changes can make them feel more normal, rather than isolated.

Driving Guest Lecture Reflection

The driving lecture taught us all about the different diagnoses that would benefit from having a driving test completed to see if they are safe enough to drive independently again. It is an extremely difficult thing to not be able to drive anymore, because that takes away so much of someone’s independence and makes them rely on others to get to different places. It is important to be caring and understanding when working with someone who may or may not be able to drive again. We also learned about all the different aspects that go into driving that need to be assessed, such as visual perception, cognition, physical strength, and more.

There are many interventions that can be completed with someone involving driving. The first is education. They need to understand what their options are, whether they need to buy an adapted car to fit their needs, strategies to help them remember to check their blind spots, or more. They most likely have a new condition that requires them to change how they drove, which is why they are being assessed, so helping them understand what changes need to be made to their driving is essential to success. Another intervention is working on transfers getting in and out of the car. This could be with someone who recently had a spinal cord injury and needs to learn how to get from their wheelchair into their car. If they are unable to get into their car with their wheelchair, they need to be able to store it in their car so that they are able to move once they get to their destination. This can involve a caregiver attending so they are able to put the wheelchair away, or learning how an adapted car works with getting the wheelchair into the driver’s area.