Occupational therapy techniques designed to conserve energy can assist people suffering from fatigue in managing their symptoms and leading a healthier life. Fatigue is often present with conditions like Multiple Sclerosis or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
This scoping review revealed that occupational therapists (OTs) are becoming more involved with interventions centered on energy conservation principles. Delivery usually occurs within closed sessions by providing patients with guidelines and setting goals for them, following a client-centric approach.
Occupational therapists
Fatigue is a common side effect of living with chronic illness or recovering from injury, and can drastically limit physical functioning, social interactions and quality of life. Occupational therapy (OT) offers practical strategies that can help conserve energy, maintain independence and live more proactively balanced lives. Therapists use techniques like activity pacing, work simplification and energy budgeting as well as client-centred approaches when developing treatment plans tailored specifically for individual clients.
Analysis of included studies indicates that most interventions consist of closed sessions with both patient-guided guidance and energy conservation attitude training being included, often remotely delivered and sometimes even supervised. Most studies analyzed have focused on managing fatigue and pain symptoms while others address energy conservation within a client-centered approach.
Occupational Therapists (OTs) can teach their patients to plan their daily activities, set priorities, and delegate tasks as needed. OTs can also teach patients when and how to rest when feeling tired, as well as avoid activities with high physical intensity levels. Patients living with chronic conditions can utilize these techniques to reduce frequency of symptoms exacerbations and enhance overall quality of life.
Energy conservation is crucial to respiratory patients. Expending too much physical effort may cause oxygen desaturation and subsequent fatigue, dizziness, discoloration of skin and nausea if excessive physical movement results in oxygen desaturation. Patients must know when it is important to take a break and rest, while using a pulse oximeter regularly in order to monitor their blood oxygen levels.
Occupational Therapists (OTs) can also assist patients living with chronic illnesses and disabilities to learn to manage their symptoms. For instance, if asthma attacks are triggered by exertion, an OT can teach patients to pace themselves to minimize occurrence. They may also advise keeping a diary detailing symptoms that affect them so OTs can better assess individual needs and develop appropriate treatment plans.
Hospice care
Hospice care is a type of palliative care intended to ease terminally ill patients into comfortable, dignified deaths. Hospice provides medical, emotional, spiritual support for both patient and family as they transition through end-of-life planning and provide pain relief as needed. Hospice can also assist in the achievement of life goals through counseling services or end-of-life planning assistance; hospice services may be provided either at home or a facility, depending on each patient’s needs.
Occupational therapists in hospice can play an essential role in providing comfort and quality of life to end-stage disease patients, including Alzheimer’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and cancer. Their responsibilities may include increasing mobility, managing pain and preventing falls; as well as training caregivers on safe body mechanics and transfer techniques that lower injury risks both to themselves and the patient. Furthermore, occupational therapy also plays a key role in combatting mental health conditions like depression and anxiety as well as physical injuries.
Recent years have witnessed an exponential rise in energy conservation research. It has been applied to both systemic and neurological diseases that manifest with significant symptoms of fatigue and pain, with results being applied across six strategies that involve different approaches for providing energy conservation treatments: client-centric (setting guidelines and goals for the patient), activity analysis, balance between activities and rest, outsourcing of tasks and physical/environmental adaptation being among them.
If you are seeking hospice care services, arrange meetings and consultations with shortlisted providers to assess their facilities and services offered. Make sure to ask questions about staff experience, visit facilities to get a feel for atmosphere, and visit to see if the hospice meets the needs of both your family’s budget and needs. Furthermore, speak to friends and family regarding experiences they may have had with particular providers; their insights could prove helpful when selecting one suitable for your loved one.
Returning to work
Reconnecting employees with work is vitally important to their mental and physical well-being, helping increase morale, productivity and your bottom line.
An effective return-to-work process ensures your employee feels supported by their team during recovery from illness or injury, with clear communication of changes to job responsibilities, benefits updates, team members and company policies.
Occupational therapists can assist in the return-to-work process by addressing ergonomic concerns, teaching energy conservation techniques, and devising coping strategies to ease grief and anxiety. In addition, occupational therapists provide guidance for altering work tasks to reduce strain or fatigue that will speed an employee’s return to full duties; for instance OTs might suggest reduced work hours or light duty to accelerate an employee’s return more quickly while improving quality of life; this also reduces medical costs by decreasing absenteeism rates.
Self-care
As someone living with chronic illness, self-care can be challenging. Yet self-care is integral to your overall health and wellbeing and can help conserve energy for activities you love to do. Whether dealing with multiple sclerosis fatigue, arthritis symptoms or post-viral fatigue, making simple changes can make a real difference in how much energy is left over for enjoyable pursuits.
As a home health occupational therapist, I assisted patients who struggled to manage their lives at home independently. Many had low energy levels and were not able to do things that made them feel alive; I helped these patients learn how to conserve energy by doing things they enjoyed; additionally I taught them how to plan and prioritize tasks so that the most urgent ones would get done first without overbooking their schedules; additionally I advised taking rest breaks when necessary and planning ahead so as not to become fatigued before reaching the end of their day.
Recent scoping reviews demonstrated an expansion of energy conservation-based research. Studies are being done on neurological and systemic diseases with significant symptoms of pain and fatigue; results were divided into six strategies and interventions appear to follow client-centric protocols with no set duration or number of sessions yet clear.
Pacing is one of the key concepts of energy conservation, meaning avoiding activities that use more energy than necessary. This could include decreasing your time in bed, avoiding repetitive movements and opting for activities with reduced physical movement needs. Utilizing assistive equipment like grab bars or elevated toilet seats may also save energy by decreasing movement needs.
One way to save energy by altering the environment is by altering its layout. Grouping similar items together, as an example, can reduce trips back and forth between rooms, as well as keeping frequently used items within reach to reduce bending or reaching. Furthermore, using electric tools like robot vacuums and dishwashers can also alleviate heavy object movement needs.
