I was a little surprised to read the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s Annual Representatives Conference 2010 motion 18:

“Conference is outraged that in 2010 violence against women is still prevalent, and in some places in the world openly tolerated. As a healthcare profession, we are in a great position to add our voice to the many who call for an end to violence against women. This Conference calls on the CSP to work with Amnesty International on its campaign to Stop Violence Against Women. Virtually every culture in the world contains forms of violence against women that are nearly invisible because they are seen as ‘normal’. Even in countries where laws criminalise violence against women, tolerance of violence may be found at all levels of society. Violence against women is the greatest human rights scandal of our times. The experience or threat of violence affects the lives of women everywhere, cutting across boundaries of wealth, race and culture. In the home and in the community, in time of war and peace, women are beaten raped, mutilated and killed with impunity. It is time we make a stand against this outrage”[1]

It seemed to me to be a sexist stance ignoring statistical evidence that men are at greater risk of violent crime than women in the UK. In England and Wales during 2008/2009 for example, men "were about twice as likely as women (4.4% compared with 2.1%) to have experienced one or more violent crimes in the year prior to interview"[2: page 43].

1. Introduction:
My problem-based learning objective for this week is to find out how to differentiate between different types of pain. How are we supposed to do that? My general experience of occupational therapists is that if a patient complains of pain they go and get a doctor or nurse. As occupational therapists are trained in anatomy and physiology it would be great to see occupational therapists investigating pain themselves (at least on a superficial level) before reporting to other multidisciplinary team members. Hence I thought it might be worth sharing my work this week, which is intended for first-year students.

0. Introduction:
This is some problem-based learning work I did a while ago. Unfortunately, voluntary movement depends on the integration of several non-voluntary mechanisms so the material I had to cover seemed pretty complex to me. I thought I might as well share my work here instead of wasting it, but I am no neuro-physiologist so please do not expect any rocket science.

1. Introduction:
Some years ago while I was working as a health care assistant in operating theatres a student nurse from Ireland consumed alcohol excessively during her 21st birthday party. The next day she attended the accident and emergency department but was sent away diagnosed with a hangover. Normal doses of self-administered paracetamol overloaded her liver due to her dehydrated state and she subsequently underwent a liver transplant. Unfortunately she then had a stroke and died in the intensive care unit. Her 18 year old sister who was also a student nurse went back to Ireland in a state of distress. My last shift in theatres before I departed to University ended with an alcoholic man bleeding to death. I still remember the distinctive smell of blood which at first could not be seen. The surgeon tried to look for the source of his bleed with an endoscope, but there was so much blood that his view was obscured. As his blood pressure dropped we put him in a head-down tilt. That was when I first saw the blood as it gushed out of his mouth looking like chopped liver. I was at his waist level when we turned him on his side to clear his airway and I found myself covered with blood as he was bleeding from his rectum too.

Introduction: I have previously argued that occupational therapy has existed for thousands of years within Hindu/Buddhist health models[1] and we have recently seen techniques from Buddhism feature in occupational therapy research[2]. This blog entry reflects on how the Buddhist principle of non-attachment might be applied to romantic/sexual relationships.

0. Abstract:
Reiki is a healing energy technique of uncertain origin. It may not be applicable to occupational therapy, but the process of learning reiki may be of use to occupational therapists for facilitating spiritual emergence and personal development. This blog entry describes my personal journey as a physiotherapist learning reiki, and how the experience led me to re-train as an occupational therapist. The benefits I experienced included increased empathy and interpersonal skills, more ethical living, a deeper respect for occupational therapy, improved physical and mental health, a feeling of connection to the universe and restored faith in God.