Occupational therapist gives tip for keeping muscles strong with age
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“Life hacks” are at the heart of a new campaign to help Britons take positive steps to improve their health from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT). The professional body hopes that the tips will help people regain their motivation and overcome challenges to keep doing the things they both love and that they need to do. Starting today, every day during “Occupational Therapy Week 2022” will see new life hacks added to the OT Life Hacks website. They will cover topics from how parents of young children can use “messy play” to boost their kids’ confidence and advice on how to manage mental health and stressful situations to how to cook healthy meals when frail and wellbeing tips for busy parents.
According to the RCOT, the nation’s health is being buffeted by crisis after crisis — from the coronavirus pandemic through to the present economic situation — with access to both GP and hospital appointments increasingly hard to come by.
The Royal College highlighted the facts that there were 1 million obesity-related hospital admissions in 2019/20, that 55 percent of young people do not take part in enough physical activity and that a whopping 3.7 million people in the UK suffer from chronic loneliness.
As with other areas of healthcare, occupational therapists have reported seeing growing demand for their services — with an 85 percent increase in demand for children’s services and an 82 percent increase in demand for rehabilitation services.
To help tackle this, occupational therapists from across the UK are now bringing their expert advice to the nation in the form of “Occupational Therapy Life Hacks” — pro tips to help Britons take small, positive steps to lift up their everyday lives.
RCOT Director of Practice and Innovation Karin Orman said: “Often, it’s the things we love to do which can most benefit our health and wellbeing — such as a walk with a friend, dancing, or having the family round for a home-cooked meal.
“That’s why our advice is practical, achievable and meant to be fun.
“We hope this campaign will encourage everyone to take steps towards improving their health.”
This in turn, she added, “will help reduce pressures on health services for illnesses and conditions.”]
Ms Orman continued: “From increasing our activity levels to ideas to improve our mental health, we can all take steps towards preventing worsening health conditions in the choices we make.
“Those choices — from hobbies and exercise to food choices and opportunities to socialise — have been limited in recent times, and this has had a detrimental impact on many of our lives.
“But now, many of these limitations have gone and we believe it’s the right time to refocus our attention on making positive changes to improve our health and wellbeing.
“Occupational therapists have the expertise and knowledge to help people get more out of life — and now we’re bringing examples of that knowledge directly to the nation.
“Life is about the pleasure we get from our little lifts: I hope our life hacks help people lift up their everyday.”
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The first of the series of life hacks — featured in the video above — involves advice to help senior citizens keep active and maintain muscle tone.
This, the Royal College explained, is important to help prevent falls and allow people to maintain independence.
Rosa, an occupational therapist,said: “As we get older, it’s important that we keep moving, so we can carry on doing the things that we love and need to do.
“My occupational therapy life hack is to get up from the sofa or chair when the TV adverts come on.
“It can be as simple as walking into another room. Adding an extra little bit of movement into your day every day can help keep your muscle tone.”
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