Blog 3 Food/Labor

Blog 3: Food/Labor

This week we looked at Food as a process of labor.

Labour is the activity which corresponds to the biological process of the human body, whose spontaneous growth, metabolism, and eventual decay are bound to the vital necessities produced and fed into the life process by labour. The human condition of labour is life itself” (Arendt, 1958, p. 7). 

Labor is an activity that is necessary to be performed repeatedly by human beings in order to stay alive. It is a continuous cycle that stops only during the time of death. The progression of labor can either be painful or pleasurable depending on how the individual perceives the meaning of the activity. For example I enjoy cooking because I can choose to create a variety of dishes that I enjoy to eat. On some days however I am exhausted and rather get takeaways however due to financial constraints have to resort to cooking. At this very moment the activity of cooking is considered by me as labor. It is an activity I have to do in order to reduce hunger pangs. 

The sole purpose of baking is for food consumption hence relevant link to labor which has been defined (in the reference above) as essential for human survival. However I don’t bake because I have to but only because I want to. Baking to me is labor of joy which I engage in either to bake a cake for a friend’s birthday, contribute as dessert towards flat dinner or store away as snack for afternoon tea. The activity of baking creates a connection to people during a social situation. It can be used as a conversation starter to discuss the ingredients used and the process involved. In my opinion the consumption of eating sweet baking products evokes the feeling of happiness which is a thoughtful offering during a sad period such as funerals, or relationship problems hence making the task of baking worth while. I am rewarded by positive feedbacks from friends and families with whom I share my baking with. This reinforces my behavior to bake again not only to receive more positive feedbacks but to fine tune my baking skills. I enjoy challenging myself by attempting new baking recipes without on most occasions thinking about the time and energy that is require of me to participate in this activity. 

References:

Arendt, H. (1958). The human condition. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Blog 2 Ergonomics

Blog 2 Ergonomics:

In Week 36, we learnt about ergonomics and its relevance to our chosen activity.  

Caulton and Dickson (2007) define the understanding of ergonomics as the ability to “constantly make slight invisible adjustments to an activity to adapt to the needs of those taking part and ensure that it continues to work for its intended purpose”. 

This blog will consider how ergonomics is linked to my chosen activity which is baking.

Baking is a leisure pursuit I like to engage in during my spare time. Today I made the decision to make bread using a bread maker machine. I chose to use this modern gadget instead of traditional oven due to convenience. I also flat with four other people hence the kitchen is a communal area in the house. I had to be mindful of how long I spent on this activity without taking over the entire kitchen space. I felt confident making bread in the bread maker machine which I have used several times in the past. As is with either a dishwasher or a washing machine all I had to do was turn the machine on and expect similar result to baking in an oven. I realized after glimpsing in my pantry, I would have to travel to the supermarket to purchase yeast which is the key ingredient. Once I had the necessary ingredients, I mixed them all and into the machine they went ready to be consumed in 45-50 minutes. 

My understanding of ergonomics (relates to paragraph above) is that it is about the fit, match or mismatch and the connection between the person, occupation (activity performed) and environment. It also considers how little shifts or adaptations are made to link the person, occupation and environment together. I was financially capable to buy ingredients and bake bread in a bread maker machine which I was comfortable to utilize (person). I drove to the supermarket instead of walking to purchase the ingredients required and I was aware that using an oven was another way to baking bread (activity). I had to perform this activity without restricting my flat mates access into the kitchen (environment).

References:

Caulton, R.& Dickson, R. (2007).  What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In Creek, J., & Lawson- Porter, A. (Eds.) Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd

PIO 2 - Blog 1 Mindfulness

Baking is an activity that my sister and I shared with mom every Sunday when we both lived in Fiji. Personally, I enjoy baking. It is the pleasure of creating something that is pleasant to the palate from raw ingredients. In my opinion baking adds a personal touch (e.g. birthday parties or weddings) reminding “loved ones” to appreciate the time and effort that has been invested. 

While doing this activity, I was determined to be mindful of the color, consistency, taste and smell as I mixed all the ingredients together.  I was conscious of how familiar this kitchen was to me for example I knew where items were kept in the pantry, baking utensils in the cupboard and how to operate the oven. I also took notice of the lovely aroma that took me on a journey back to my childhood….reminding me of mom and my sister. 

I remember doing baking sessions with clients in my first fieldwork placement in the mental health setting. At that stage, I couldn’t understand how baking contributed to a client’s recovery journey. However this year I am able to appreciate how baking can be used as a therapeutic tool with clients.

Baking is an excellent therapeutic intervention strategy to use when observing a client's ability to :

• Make a decision as to what they want to bake
• Make a list of ingredients required
• Budgeting skills
• Ability to purchase items at the supermarket
• Follow instructions in a recipe book
• Ability to task sequence, problem solve, and multi task
• Ability to perform task independently and safely

I would definitely consider baking as a intervention tool if applicable during my OT practice in the future keeping in mind what response this activity has on the client i.e. either positive or negative.

Tutorial 8: Assistive Technology

Definition of Assistive Technology?
"any item of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" (Cook & Hussey, 2000)


This is a YouTube clip that provides a excellent explanation of assistive technology:



During one of our lectures we had two guest speakers who spoke to us regarding assistive technology. I found this lecture very interesting which has made me aware that with advancing technology there are many options available to individuals with mental and physical disabilities to continue to engage in meaningful and purposeful occupations.

Speech Recognition Technology which is a computer software that enables individuals with disabilities to operate computers and navigate the internet simply by speaking into a headset microphone (without the use of a keyboard) which converts spoken words into typed text. This software has been of particular interest because I think the features that are available is very convenient and is a universal software not just limited to disable consumers.

I was kindly given consent and shown by a friend who has a C5-C6 spinal cord injury how this software works. He has a very active lifestyle and this software has enabled him to keep in touch with families/friends via internet use and simply compose documents with accuracy. I have received emails from him on several occasions and the content of his emails are professional without any spelling or grammatical errors.

The speech recognition software is sound sensitive and requires a high quality microphone headset to filter out background noise. The accuracy of the typed text (converted from spoken speech) depends on the sound input. A sound card is also required which is already built in the new computers that are currently available in the market. A powerful computer is also required that has a large memory storage with at least a  minimum 2 gigabyte RAM. I have been told that the new versions can be used straight out of the box however it is recommended to train the software after installation to recognize the speaking style of the consumer.

The cost of the speech recognition software called Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 Premium (sorry John, i informed you of the wrong version :] )  is $399.99 at Noel Leeming and Bond & Bond.

This YouTube clip gives a demonstration how this software works:




References:
Cook, A. M., & Hussey, A. M. (2000). Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practice. Sacramento: California, Mosby

Tutorial 7: Linking to blogs of interest and exchanging comments

The 5 blogs that I have chosen which relate to OT practice are as follows:

• Participation 2011 

http://moodle.op.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=440

• Moodle:

http://moodle.op.ac.nz

• NZAOT:

http://www.nzaot.com/

2 Fellow OT students:
Claire
http://clairepo1.blogspot.com/
Gemma
http://gemmapo1.blogspot.com/
This blog was interesting to put together because I am now able to make links to other websites from my profile page. This is so convenient because I can just click on the website link within my blog page inside of typing in the URL in the address tab.

Tutorial 6: The internet and online communities

My chosen topic of interest for this tutorial is on three popular social networking websites which are:

• Facebook - www.facebook.com
• Twitter - www.twitter.com
• My space - www.myspace.com

Provide a brief description of each community and services they provide?

Facebook



Facebook is a free access website privately owned and created on the 4 of February in 2004. This social networking website allow members to join online networks and interact with friends and families around the globe. Members are able to upload photos, add new friends, send messages, play games and update their personal profile with personal thoughts to which invited members are able to comment on.
Twitter:



Twitter is a useful business networking tool. Updates are available to everyone and anyone around the world.
Twitter is a instant message service that allows members to post a comment (limited characters up to 140) on their personal thoughts. These comments are referred to as a tweet. The name Twitter comes from the idea that these short comments are similar to the chirping of birds. People around the globe can choose to follow other members on Twitter for example celebrities.

MySpace



My space was created in 2004, initially designed to be a storage site for a group of employees that worked for another website company but later become a public social networking tool. Some of the first people to utilize MySpace was musicians who posted performance dates to inform their fans. They also streamed their music through their profile page which could be downloaded by fans in mp3 files for free. This attracted more people to sign up all around the world.

Why people choose to contribute to each of these social networking sites?
People sign up to social networking sites to catch up with friends/families, make new friends, join groups of similar interest where you can post a question, thought or opinion, upload and share photos (Facebook and MySpace).

Tutorial 5: Video Production Session

Why do you think Wii gaming has appeal to people who are not traditional video game players?
Will gaming has become a popular video game therapy used during rehab making the recovery process fun, enjoyable, exciting and interactive even for people who are not traditional video game players.

What is the relevance here to occupational therapy?
 Wii gaming in a useful occupation therapy tool because patients are able to re-develop their skills (after injury or illness) to perform functional activities that are meaningful to them such as brushing their teeth, showering, cooking, driving and paid employment.


Investigate the other applications offered by the Wii gaming consol, how else could it be used as an OT tool?
Patients become so mentally focused on the game that they are unaware that they are actually improving on their muscle strength, endurance, balance, flexibility and hand eye co-ordination. Wii sports can also be used as group therapy where patients have to work together to win against the gaming console hence improving their interpersonal skills.

Tutorial 3 & 4

 

Tutorial 4:

We were instructed to work in a group of 3 to plan and produce a short film based on a mystery letter of the alphabet that is approximately 30 seconds long. As a group we choose our mystery letter (refer video above)  and with confidence walked around Wintec (Avalon Campus) with a cute little camcorder borrowed from the OT office. 

It was only after we decided that we had enough shorts to create a short film that we realized that there was no space on the memory card in the camcorder. This meant that we had spent 15 minutes walking around campus aiming the camera at people and objects without actually recording anything. Confusion lead to hope that maybe our tutor might be able to retrieve what we as generation X couldn't. Unfortunately no such luck hence we were given a camera to redo the tedious task we were originally set out to do. As we walked out the building the little battery icon on the LCD screen of the camera indicated a flat battery. By now all three of us were tired, exhausted and annoyed. We did manage to complete the task with fresh set of batteries and two spare batteries just in case of another misfortune.

We returned to class thinking that creating the 30 second film would be a piece of cake. Boy, were we wrong. What I found difficult was that while cutting out scenes you still had to make sure the message would reach the audience (in our case the mystery letter). Keeping within the 30 second time frame was not as easy as I thought it would be. However, I enjoyed using Movie maker which is a very fun and interesting program to work.

I now have a better understanding of how much time and effort goes into producing a video. While viewing the video posted above please do take into consideration the time and effort that was invested. Not forgetting several hurdles encountered during production :). Please do leave a comment if you are able to guess what the mystery letter is :).

Storyboards are a series of illustrations or images displayed in a organized graphical sequence for motion picture or animation movies (Wikipedia). 

Scripting is created once the storyboard is completed which is similar to reading a book for example the images from the story board indicate what the character will say and what reaction they are experiencing (Wikipedia). 

Storyboarding and scripting aided my group's short film because we were able to use recordings of different images in our environment to create the ambiguity of identifying the mystery letter of the alphabet.

Tutorial 3:

Creating a blog and a Flickr account was a totally new experience for me. In the past  I have never successfully managed to keep up with diary entries and ended up discarding the idea in numerous occasions. As for photos well I just save them on my portable hard-drive or store hard copy in a scrapbook. This tutorial was definitely a new learning experience and I enjoyed creating the first three blog. I did have issues with font not showing against certain templates so the perfectionist in me will continue tweaking the problem until it's rectified.

I also enjoyed uploading photos onto the Flickr account which is kinda like a online scrapbook. I had fun playing with different designs and various options that are offered. I would definitely continue using this site and direct family/friends to my Flickr account to share my photos.

Below are the steps to follow if you are interested to create your own Blogger or Flickr account:

Blogger: (similar to a diary which contains personal thoughts and feelings to be shared to invited members around the world)

• go to blogger.com web page
• follow the steps to create Google account
• sign into Google account
• you are now able to create your own personal blog by utilizing easy to use options available.

Flickr: (similar to a scrapbook or photo album which contains personal photos that can be uploaded to be shared with invited members around the world)

• go to Flickr.com web page
• follow the steps to create flickr account
• sign into Flickr account
• you are now able to upload photos and personalized them using the different options available.

Hope you get to enjoy the experience as much as I did :)