Age Up Age Well Monthly Blog
April 2026 — Issue 5
Connecting Information to Your Daily Life
Headlines
- Happy OT month!
- Maximizing your at home independence: Print and Post it page
- Age Up Age Well Strategy
- Quote
- Next month’s topic
Happy OT Month!
Welcome to Occupational Therapy Month! My OT colleagues have taught me so much about the connection between cognition and our daily lives. You may think a laundry basket is an uninspiring motivator, but let me explain my logic.
OTs address a variety of skills ranging from physical to visual spatial. They facilitate independence by strengthening our motor skills and maximizing our endurance. How many steps are there in doing laundry? When you really think about it, the number of steps we perform in sequence are typically taken for granted.
Oftentimes, it’s only when we have an injury and are limited in the use of our arms, hands and fingers that we realize how much we need them. Cognitively, we are paying attention, making decisions, planning, recalling and using our organizational skills. Cognition is the quiet counterpart to the motor activity we can see.
Closer Look
Throughout the course of our day, we engage in a variety of seemingly mundane tasks and yet our ability to perform them is often taken for granted. Increasing our awareness of how essential staying physically active is and participating in activities of daily living supports longer, healthier lives.
When we wake up, what’s one of the first things you do? What if you needed assistance in the bathroom or preparing breakfast? In fact, what if everything you do requires someone to help you?
When I was newly married (as in 3 weeks) I was working at a restaurant to offset expenses associated with starting graduate school in three months. During my training I sustained a significant leg injury and had to be transported to the emergency department. I don’t think my husband thought our wedding vows would be put to the test so quickly. Our thank you cards were not even completed.
He had to assist me in the bathroom, wash my hair, support me as I navigated our first apartment and carry me down the stairs. It was frustrating for both of us. I grieved my independence and he had little time to relax when he returned home from work. I returned to the restaurant a month later with a new appreciation for my mobility.
Over the course of my career, I was witness to the struggles of regaining skills following an accident, illness or injury. A stroke may leave a person with little to no functional use of an arm or leg or both. Imagine being right-handed and suddenly having to rely on your left hand while you undergo therapy on the affected side.
Would you be willing to do more than imagine? Pick any activity and use your non-dominant hand to complete the task. Could you open a jar of peanut butter, button your shirt, zip up your pants? Could you cut your steak or use a can opener? Did you try it? Was it easy? Was it next to impossible?
What to expect during an OT evaluation: Examples only, not inclusive list.
- Questions regarding your living arrangement. Do you live alone? Do you have stairs? Do you require assistance with any ADLS including cooking, cleaning, dressing, bathing, etc.?
- Assessment of your independence with banking, medication management, home safety and possibly driving.
- Physical measurement of your grip strength, balance, range of motion, fine motor skills and visual spatial functioning.
- Motor planning skills may be assessed as you are observed initiating, following through and completing a task.
Print and Post Page
- Engage your primary provider in a conversation regarding how you may strengthen your independent completion of daily living tasks.
- Engage in fine motor activity including, but not limited to cooking, baking, dressing, self-care, writing, typing, crafts, etc.
- Engage in brain games to challenge your thinking, problem solving, strategic planning, etc.
- Engage in your financial management. Are you comfortable with paying bills, making deposits, tracking your expenses? Have you tried online banking, bill pay etc?
- Engage in a medication review. Make sure you're taking only medication prescribed by YOUR provider. Keep your provider informed of any supplements you’re taking, side effects you’re experiencing and any concerns you have with the cost of your medication.
- Engage in baking or cooking. Following a recipe is a great way to connect your cognitive skills to your motor skills. Finding a recipe, organizing and shopping for ingredients, completing each step in order and making sure your temperature and cook time is accurate all keep your brain sharp.
- Engage in multi-sensory activities. Maximize input to your sense of hearing, vision, touch, taste and smell. Have something to eat or drink while watching TV, playing a game or enjoying a hobby.
- Engage both sides of your body simultaneously or both your upper and lower extremities. These include, but are not limited to: walking, swimming, dancing, yoga and riding a bike.
- Engage in group exercise programs. Beyond the physical benefits you may meet new people, make new friends and create a support system.
- Engage in conversations about what assistive devices you may need.
Cognitive Connection
The more we continue to do for ourselves, the more independent we will be. Concerned loved ones may suggest we need “help” and this is coming from a place of love.
To the concerned loved ones…please don’t make assumptions based only on someone’s age. There are countless examples of people who are well into their nineties who live safe and productive lives without any assistance.
Function not age should be considered before recommending life altering changes to the aging people in your life. Refer to the functional changes checklist on the website for guidance. Primary providers, community organizations and aging advocates will have information on resources, services and support.
Excerpt from Age Up Age Well
“Today I will dance. It’s good for my joints, my balance and my overall mobility. I can sit down if I feel shaky and move my feet and arms. Remember the high school dances? Prom? The awkward first dance at Sadie Hawkins in junior high…I once mimicked the moves of a girl I envied at a dance in the Red Owl parking lot. That was dumb. I never needed to dance like anyone else. I have my own rhythm and groove…Yes, today I will put on some music and shimmy and shake. Good for me.”
Quote
“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.”
What’s next…
May 2026: In honor of my fellow Speech Pathologists and Audiologist colleagues we will talk about Better Speech and Hearing Month and the role communication plays in our daily lives.
Until next time…
Age up Age well