The Upside - Spinal Cord Injury

-
For my second neuro-note, I chose to watch the movie "The Upside" starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston. In this movie, Hart plays the role of an ex-convict who is out on parole and needs to find a job. He eventually winds up working as a “life auxiliary” caregiver for a wealthy man who is a quadriplegic (Cranston). Some of the reasons why I chose this movie include wanting to learn more about spinal cord injury (SCI) and how fast one can occur, and I wanted to learn about how an OT would make an impact on someone who has sustained an injury like this. 
As I was watching the movie, Cranston’s character reveals to Hart’s that he was in a paragliding accident that caused his spinal cord injury, in turn leaving him quadriplegic. A spinal cord injury is classified as damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal that can be caused from a sudden, traumatic blow that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. In doing research I found that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries, with falls, acts of violence, sports and recreation injuries, alcohol, diseases (cancer) to follow (The Mayo Clinic, 2020). Complications from SCI’s include loss of bladder control, respiratory issues, muscle tone deficits, pain, depression, and multitude of others.  
After watching this movie, I noticed a few roles a life auxiliary and an OT might have in common- a few of them being working to help improve the client’s mental status (i.e. increasing confidence, making them feel a sense of accomplishment during therapy, etc.), and assisting them by improving/adapting things in their life to make it easier for them. The obstacles that a person has to overcome after a spinal cord injury can be frustrating. One day a person may be walking, talking, breathing, and performing everyday tasks with ease and then the next they have lost their control of all of those functions. However, on the positive side, it is the occupational therapist’s role to help determine what the client likes to do and practice activities that are meaningful to the client. Throughout the movie, Hart’s character slowly identifies what Cranston’s character finds meaningful and helps him have an increased quality of life after his injury. I enjoyed this movie when I first saw if a year ago, but it carries even greater meaning to me now from the perspective of a future OT. 





Resources:

Spinal cord injury. (2019, September 17). Retrieved July 26, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-cord-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20377890

Black, T., Blumenthal, J., & Tisch, S. (Producers), & Burger, N. (Director). (2017). The Upside [Motion Picture]. United States: STX Films & Lantern Entertainment. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Blissful Ordinariness?

-
What is blissful ordinariness? In the field of occupational therapy, we pride ourselves on returning each client to their blissful ordinariness, or the baseline at which people perform everyday tasks. From a holistic standpoint, the uniqueness of our profession is the understanding that everybody’s blissful ordinariness may look different depending on capabilities and goals. Blissful ordinariness is essentially every activity or occupation an individual does throughout the day- it is the small things that may be taken for granted. For example, taking out the trash, opening a jar, cleaning, cooking, bathing, etc- all very ordinary things we do on a daily basis, requiring little thought, that would actually make a big difference if we lost these abilities. If a client comes to receive OT for a hand injury, it may take them some time to gain the strength and the dexterity to open their favorite jar of pickles or be able to brush their teeth for the full 2 minutes. Therefore, it is our du...
Read more

Concussion

-
     For this first neuro-note I chose to watch the movie "Concussion" starring Will Smith. In the movie, Smith portrays Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist, who discovers that professional football players develop Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) after experiencing repeated concussions throughout their years of playing football. There are a few different reasons why I chose this movie, the first reason being that I have always wondered why my parents told me that playing football was dangerous growing up. The second reason is that we are covering Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI's) in my Neuro Aspects of Occupational Performance class, and I wanted to gain insight as to what happens when a person experiences a concussion.      When a football player makes helmet to helmet contact with another player, the force of the impact can be up to 100+ g forces on the head. This incredible amount of force causes the brain to experience a coup-countercoup im...
Read more

OT's and Religion

-
    One might wonder how occupational therapy and the multitude of different religions and cultures may be relative to one another. As a future occupational therapist, I will come in contact with and treat a wide variety of patients, all of whom will have different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. I feel that it is important as future OT's to know some information about these unique cultures so that we can treat our patients with the highest level of culturally sensitive care. For example, in the Buddhist religion, the Dhamma or Dharma is a treatment plan that one must follow in order to be cured of illness. This could hinder or help an individuals prognosis if they are unsure if the treatment plans align with their beliefs. Another example is from the religion Hinduism- i ndividuals who believe in Hinduism believe that Moksha (liberation) is the goal of humanity. This can only be achieved through tuning into the Brahman within oneself. Th...
Read more