Tutorial Six: The internet and online communities

Provide a brief description of each community

• What do you think is the intended purpose of the site?  Information can be linked here from the specific sites.

One of the main objectives of this website is to connect people that experience such feelings, and offer a place where people can share their thoughts. This site includes many different ways in which to connect with people; such as through chat rooms, forums, and blogs and media gallery.  There is also an option to start your own community or forum that you can freely host yourself. Please see link below:

http://www.depression-understood.org/community.htm

The second online community intended purpose, is to provide expert, ad-free, user-friendly educational materials and resources to help people improve their emotional well-being; and make more informed health decisions. Pleaswe see link below:

http://helpguide.org/about.htm 

Depression Tribe has many opportunities for like minded people to express, connect and get educated through their online community.  It draws people in with those who suffer a mental illness, who are interested or those with the expertise in mental illness. This website targets depression, but it does have other links to connect to other mental health disorders. Please see link below:

http://www.depressiontribe.com/

• How interactive is this site? 

This page, when you first view it, is very soothing and peaceful. I like the contrast with the soft blue colour and it is easy to read and navigate your way around.  There are many ways for and individual to interact. An information centre provides you with information on articles, essay’s, mental health news and supplies emergency contacts

This site is not designed for interaction as it is an educational site for those to read and understand more about their illness. However, this website does provide for users to express through testimonials, in how beneficial and helpful the site has been for them and the people around them. Please see testimony below.

I feel the depression tribe website has many opportunities for interaction.  In posting your own thoughts and options, and receiving reply’s from other suffers and professional therapist.

• How can people contribute?

People can contribute through discussion in forums, chat room, writing a blog, media gallery or through starting up your own forum that you can host yourself.

People do not contribute by communication on this site, it is mainly for educational purposes, but there is the option to add a testimonial in how beneficial and helpful the site has been.

People on the depression tribe site can contribute through posting your own blog, where you can express yourself like a diary, communicate in forums, chat rooms, personal chat rooms and get some expert advice from professional therapist.

• What do they contribute?

People on this site contribute their feelings, thoughts, beliefs and advice. Another exciting way to contribute is through media gallery.  People here can add art, music, short music or even spoken messages.

When contributing with testimonials, these people are thankful, happy and appreciative that the information given on this site can help them and others to understand their mental illness and learn to cope with this throughout their lives.

People contribute by giving advice or suggestions that have worked for them and would like pass on to others. It is an opportunity to express your thoughts (weather happy or sad) and voice your feelings and beliefs.  There is an opportunity for experts to contribute through writing strategies and interventions that may be beneficial to those who suffer.

Consider material presented in the online package.  

• Make comment on why people choose to contribute to each community. 

The reason why people like to contribute to these depression communities is to voice their concerns and get a real understanding into their illness. These communities provide opportunities for people to vent, get issues off their chest but also to share their feelings, and share strategies that have worked for them. Another key reason is that people feel heard, feel connected with others who are suffering the same issues.

People like to contribute as a source of venting, getting issues off their chest or giving advice or suggestions that have worked for them.  It also is an opportunity to get advice from experts, or for experts to contribute their knowledge through writing strategies that may be beneficial to those who suffer.

• What is it they are seeking?

Everybody is a unique individual and seek different things from online communities. I feel what people sought from the second community was education, reassurance, understanding or an insight into depression. With the two other communities, people sought out advice, an understanding, and some guidance. There is opportunity to seek out professional advice, or for professionals to seek out new knowledge.  Generally I feel people were seeking, what would help them to feel at ease, that their not along, and that others are out there going through the same thing and are willing to give advice and help in some kind of way.     

• Is information shared one way or reciprocal?

The second community shares loads of information for gaining knowledge.  There is an opportunity for those seeking advice to contact via email, and wait for a response. Testimonies provided on this site, and are extremely grateful and speak very highly with the appropriate advice given. The other two communities share information in many ways. Information is shared through forums, chat rooms, blogs, expert replies, people sharing games, galleries even support groups are provided.  So suggestions and replies are coming from all angles.

• How do you think chosen sites address or relate to occupation concepts introduced in tutorial one e.g. occupational justice, occupational disruption, occupational transition, or occupational deprivation.  Choose at least 2 concepts to discuss. 

The chosen sites represent depression within mental health, one in particular providing information within youth suffering depression. These communities relate to the concept Occupational Disruption.

Christianson & Townsend, (2010, p.420) state Occupational disruption ‘is a transient or temporary condition of being restricted from participation in necessary or meaningful occupations. These can be caused from injury, illness, temporary relocation or temporary unemployment’. Depression is a common mental illness, and in many cases disrupts an individual’s life in a minor or server way, but when under control this disruption can be temporary. Through using these online communities which provides ongoing advice and support, they can help you to understand your illness and learn strategies to manage your illness.

Also these sites relate closely with occupational transition. Christianson & Townsend, (2010, p.421) describe occupational transition as ‘circumstances creating a change in the nature or type of occupational engagement which is pursued by or available to an individual.  Such transitions may be a result of choice, change to mental and physical status, life transitions, geographical change, geopolitical strife or other factors’.  You never know what life may bring you, or the situations you may be placed in but a occupation transition certainly can change the nature of your occupational engagement. These communities provide support, awareness and education through occupational transition you may be going through. Weather it is a result from you suffering depression and finding life a bit tough, or whether you are coming to terms with the illness and are coping, you may feel that a change would be the perfect thing for you.  

• Considering material presented during the course and comment on the potential ethical issues that may arise in this community e.g. lack of identity and accountability.

There is always potential for ethical issues, no matter how hard a company, website or online community establish a process. Having live chat rooms and forums can open up a can of worms, but those running the community work hard and fast to resolve the issue. Within mental health communities a lot of unique information can be broadcasted and then scrutinised, those who use online communities need to remember to report any unnecessary comments that have been made.  I believe that the good that comes out of these communities, weighs out the bad and that many individuals are benefiting immensely from the opportunity of being a part of these depression communities.  

• Consider material presented in the online package and comment on the benefits and limitations these communities provide relate to traditional geographical communities.

After listening to the online presentation, benefits for those using online communities can vary from providing information, to connecting people with similar interest all around the world, bringing a unity of understanding, opportunity for an equal voice, opportunity to be a silent observer.  These communities compliment a real life to those who have access and use the internet. There are limitations, where online communities could be seen as discriminating, to those who may have financial difficulties, don’t have a computer, do not understand a computer or for those that have never been taught the wonderful opportunities that can enable and individual to feel included, wanted or worth something. 



References

Christiansen, H. C., & Townsend, A.E. (2010). Introduction to Occupation: The Art and Science of Living. (2^nd ed). Upper Saddler River, NJ: Person.

Tutorial Five: Video Production Sessions

In my second placement I had the opportunity to learn and work within a rest home and hospital, engaging with residents and staff and learning what makes this rest home stand out from the rest.  The location was in a beautifully rural area; just on the out skirts of Hamilton and to ensure for engagement and participation, a range of different activities were designed into the weekly schedule.  This involved activities such as exercise’s, bowls, golf, bingo, scenery van trips, choir group visits, a stroll in the garden, fish & chip lunch and many more.  Attending chapel was quite a meaningful occupation for most residents, which would bring friends and family together for a common connection.

The next five video clips help to demonstrate what activities were involved within the rest home and with the cleaver minds of staff, they adapted different games to allow engagement, participation and the meaningful fun.

This first clip, demonstrates how the van gave opportunity to those in a wheelchair to experience a scenic drive around the countryside.

This clip demonstrates an elderly choir giving back to the community and that is exactly what they did in the rest home. The elderly choir sang old school songs that brought back beautiful memories for the residents as I saw them, singing, humming and tapping their hands nd legs.  I could see this held a lot of meaning for the residents and those in the choir.

This clip demonstrates that you can play bowls seated either a wheelchair or a chair (for the elderly).  Within the rest home it was adapted so you could play it inside by placing the numbering down on a mat, this meant you could play it anywhere in the facility.

This clip demonstrates a variety of activities.  What we focused on every morning were exercise in a chair to music, big ball passing and interacting together.

This clip is an important symbol and ritual among the residents, as they were able to express and recognise their spirituality and for social interaction.  This held a strong bond within the residents and was an important part of their day.

Tutorial Four: Video Production Sessions

How it came about for us to make our own movie.

We were put into groups of four, and in preparation before class we were to have the definitions for Occupational Justice, Occupational Transition, Occupational Disruption and Occupational Deprivation.   Between myself, Amy, Vanessa and Abby we decided to look into Occupational Disruption.

Christensen & Townsend (2010, p. 420) describes disruption as "a transient or temporary condition of being restricted from participation in necessary or meaningful occupations.  These can be caused from injury, illness, temporary relocation or temporary unemployment".

Before even starting our film, we discussed our thoughts and how we were going to approach our film setting.  In our first class session, we were given a story board to draw up each scene, book the camera equipment and then arranged a suitable time for the four of us to meet.  

To ensure for a smooth film day, Vanessa, Amy and myself were the actors with our main actor as the teddy.  Abby was the lead camera shooter.  We attempted and completed many shots, so we had a variety to choose from.  All went to plan. Well until the editing came along.  We had a few glitches with saving our edited work, in fact we weren’t even sure where we had saved it.  But after speaking with some of the ‘technogeeks’ of the class, we found that our work was only saved to the specific computer.  Once we had found our movie, we were all go to produce our film through moviemaker and attach to our blogs.

Our short film demonstrates the social interaction in participating in soccer.  We are all having fun and sharing the ball amongst one another.  The outstanding goalie (Teddy) did a fantastic jump for the ball, and ended up in a crumbled heap on the field, resulting in a broken leg requiring a full leg cast. 

This injury has temporally restricted Teddy from the occupation he loves, as 'Occupatioaal Disruption' but is still a strong supporter while sitting on the side line.

Reference

Christiansen, C. H., & Townsend, E. A. (2010). Introduction to occupation: the art and science of living (2^nd ed.). New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc

Tutorial Three: Blog Creation Task

This tutorial involved setting up and creating my own design for my blog!!

Tutuorial Two: Occupational Engagement, Doing, Being, Becoming and Belonging.

Sit & be fit 

Sit & be Fit is the fine and gross motor skills of exercising in a chair.

I have chosen this occupation as it not only encourages an individual to maintain body movements through ‘doing’,

Gives an individual the opportunity to listen to meaningful fun music through being, interact with other people, and feel a sense of belonging to a group that you can call a family.

I was involved through doing this occupation with the residents, encouraging them to do just one more, facilitate a sense of belonging to a group, and being an individual through ball work.

Definitions

Doing is activities that have purpose, meaning and are goal-oriented.  Kendall (as cited in Wilcock, 1998, p.249), states that “you do get satisfaction, peace of mind, happiness and all those things from doing what you want to do or what you enjoy doing”.

Being true to ourselves to our nature and to our essence, enjoyment of the inner life. To ‘be’ requires people to have time to discover themselves, to think, to reflect and to simply exist (Wilcock, 1998).

Becoming describes the idea that people can envision future selves and possible lives, explore new opportunities and harbour ideas about who or what they wish to become over time (Hammell,2004).

Belonging is described as a necessary contribution of social interaction, mutual support and friendship, and the sense of being included, to occupational performance and life satisfaction (Hammell, 2004).

Figure 2-6:    Represent being ones-self, having time to think and     reflect and enjoy the time you have.

Figure 7-10:   Represent doing the things you love and enjoy.            Getting great satisfaction, happiness and balance in life.

Figure 11-14: Represent becoming the person you want to be      through growth and giving things a GO.

Figure15-20: Represents feeling of inclusion, through support and friendship.

Ethical considerations for the pictures, photo’s and images that I sort out were:

• Verbal consent with the CEO of Atawhai Assisi rest home, to use pictures from brochure, photos of residents were not used as didn’t get their consent or from their family.
• Google images & 123RF Limited  is a worldwide website that has been through all the legal procedures in documenting images.  These images which I found online are safe to be used.
• Thank you to my flatmates who re-in acted the chosen occupation of exercising in a chair.  They were verbally informed that and explained that they were part of an assignment, and that it would be published on to a blog for others to read.  They all agreed and were happy to participate.

References

Atawhai Assisi.(n.d.). Welcome to Atawhai Assisi home and hospital [Brochure]. Hamilton

Google Images. (n.d.). Rights of belonging. Retrieved http://www.spiritweaves.com/rites-of-belonging.html
 

Hammell, K.W. (2004). Dimensions of meaning in the occupations of daily life.  Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71 (5). 

Wilcock, A.A. (1998b).  Reflections on doing, being becoming.  Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65, 248-256.

123RF Limited. (2011). Elderly exercises stock photo and images. Retrieved from http://www.123rf.com/search.php?word=elderly+exercise&imgtype=0&t_word=&t_lang=en

 

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Tutorial One: Information Technology and Ethics

Ki ora and Welcome to my very first posting EVER.  Introducing Information Technology and Ethical Issues. Information Technology is ‘the technology involving the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and networks for the processing and distribution of data’ (The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company. Merriam-Webster 2012). Whilst Information Communications Technology is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems (SearchCIO-midmarket. 2007-2012). My understanding is that information technology is all about the expansion and growth along with the protection for many computer systems when sharing the data around the globe.  Whilst Information Communication Technology is the tool in what we choose to use as our preferred communicator.

How common IT is in society. The generation we see around us are very much techno geeks in our society.  Walking down a busy street, you can observe, as young as seven with a cell phones, business people with I Phones and sales representatives with I pads.  This has become the norm of our society and is as widespread as you can get.  Booking flights online complete your petrol purchase with no human contact and using the self service at your grocery store is becoming the norm.

I am very comfortable in using a computer, cell phone and internet, as these are products I have grown up with and use regularly.  What I found uncomfortable is the constant update and renewal of technology, because if you don’t use it, you lose it. The most purposeful technology in my life would be the use of emails.  Between a busy lifestyle consisting of completing a degree in Occupational Therapy, working, coaching gymnastics, working with others and enjoying waterskiing, the use of email enables me to communicate with many people at any time and to help accomplish many of my tasks.  My mobile phone I would not leave home without it, but I could be without it.  My phone is a great tool as an alarm, but mainly texting and phone calls is what I use it for. What limits me with IT would be the lack of knowledge, which I feel I am going to gain a lot from this course.

Thinking from fieldwork. On my placement within youth in Mental Health, cell phones are attached to children’s hands.  We had a client place a positive and encouraging phase on the front page of the phone, to help pick up her mood when feeling low. Potential tools of practice in using IT in an Occupational therapy setting can be the use of internet for self-cares(Verdonck, & Ryan, 2008).  This enables a person to do internet banking or online shopping.  Other options with the internet can include web messaging or webcam phoning, like Skype.  There are many online communities such as blogs, chat rooms, online gaming which can provide a social support, a sense of being included and educational purposes.  The use of emails as a communicating tool is great, as this can be done at any time of the day (Verdonck, & Ryan, 2008). Portable devices such as mobile phones, cameras and hand-held games have many functions.  These may involve reminders, personal organisation and alarms.  Digital photos and auditory reminders can be useful as memory aids.  The use of hand-hand games and Nintendo wee, have useful tools in an individual using fine and gross motor skills for strengthening muscle tone, also the opportunity to play in group situation to establish social connections.  The use of physical computer games can teach an individual motivation, increase energy levels and enable a sense of achievement (Verdonck, & Ryan, 2008). Issues that may exist around adopting IT.  Occupation therapist need to use their clinical reasoning and be able to justify the need and use for technology.  Being aware of the risk associated with using IT is essential, as we are working with vulnerable clients.  Computer games can have negative effects such as addiction and aggression so using any form of technology should be used in moderation Griffiths, Davies and Chappell (as cited in Verdonck, Ryan 2008). I admit, I am a technophobe, but after participating in our class discussion, reading about what technology has to offer, I have absorbed that there are many tools and opportunities within technology.  I can see a huge need as a practitioner, to be educated in this area as IT will help to enable appropriate interventions for each individual so that they can feel a part of the community, improve their memory, enhance muscle strength and fulfil their everyday activities in achieving their hopes and dreams.

·         Ethical issues that arose through social communication were the breach of privacy. ·         Behaviours – As a professional, appropriate and proper language needs to be maintained, or can be detrimental to an individual’s profession. ·         Behaviour from an employer, to not be snooping around on employee’s personal life. ·         Employer’s looking on face book at a potential employee, to help in the process in cutting the number for job applications down. ·         Bullying on social networks. ·         Identity theft. ·         The age in which is appropriate for children to be on and using social networks.

References

The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company Merriam-Webster. (2012). Information technology. Retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/information%20technology)

 SearchCIO-midmarket. (2007-2012).  ICT (information communication technology or technologies.  Retrieved from:http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/definition/ICT

Verdonck, M. C., Ryan, S. (2008). Mainstream technology as an occupational therapy tool: Technophobe or technogeek? British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(6), 253-256.