Final Blog

References:

Caulton, R & Dickson, R. (2007). What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In Creek, J., & Lawson-Porter, A. (Eds.). (2007). Contempory Issues in Occupationsl Therapy. Chichester. John Wiley & sons Ltd.

Green, T. (1986). Work, Leisure, and The American Schools. New York; Random House.

Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Structured Approach to Core Skills and Processes. London: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Kielhofner, G. (1995). In Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Structured Approach to Core Skills and Processes. London: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Kielhofner, G. (2008). Model of Human Occupation: theory and application. Baltimore. MD: Lippincott. Williams and Wilkins.

Comments:

Kirsty J said...

Hey Hannah I really like your blog! It sounds like you make sone really yummy food! you have some lucky flatmates!

http://experiencecooking.blogspot.com/2011/10/affordances.html#comments 

Kirsty J said...

Hey Judith. I found your blog about knitting very interesting. It sounds like you have a real passion for it. It would’ve been cool to have had a look at some photos of things you had knitted before!

http://participationandoccupation2.blogspot.com/2011/10/penguins-end.html#comments 

Kirsty J said...

Hey Rachel, I loved looking at your blog! Your photos look amazing! And your stories are so interesting to read! You are really good at reflecting.

http://meaningfuloccupation.blogspot.com/2011/10/normal-0-false-false-false_18.html#comments 

Kirsty J said...

Hey Stu, you've done a good job with your blog! You have good stories to tell about your chickens! Just remember to proof read :)

A Cleaning Story

The last time I cleaned was before my parents came to visit. Our flat lounge doesn’t stay clean for very long and once it’s dirty it stays that way until someone can be bothered to clean it. My parents were coming down for the weekend so I had a panic and thought I had to clean it or my mum wouldn’t have been impressed at all. I had some spear time so I thought it would be a good idea to clean it otherwise it wouldn’t be done by the time my parents were here. I was bored and sitting in front of the tv was going to feel like a waste of time.

None of the other flatmates were at home so it was a good chance for me to get it done without being interrupted or having them follow behind me messing it up again. We all eat our meals in the lounge as we don’t have a table so there is a lot of dishes that get left there and forgotten about so first I had to get all the dirty dishes from the lounge and take them through to the kitchen to clean them. I then had to take a rubbish bag in to pick up all the rubbish, there was so much that I had to drag the bag around with me. I had to drag around another bag for all the recycling. This took a while picking up all the rubbish as I thought that I should do under the couches to. After all the rubbish was gone I had to sort out peoples belongings that were left in the lounge and throw them in their rooms.

Once the floor was clear it was safe for me to vacuum the floor. This was the end of cleaning the lounge. I thought I may as well continue vacuuming as I had nothing else to do and no one had come home yet so I vacuumed in the kitchen, the hall ways, the girl’s bathroom and my bedroom.

Going and sitting in the lounge after its big clean was a good feeling as I didn’t have to walk around the rubbish and dishes and didn’t feel foreign object under my feet. When the other flat mates came home they were surprised by the cleanness as they hadn’t seen it clean for ages so it was it was a good feeling that they noticed what I’d done.

What kind of need does cleaning meet?

The last time I cleaned I decided to clean out my whole room. This included dusting, doing my washing, putting things away where they belonged, and vacuuming. I started by gathering up all my dirty clothes and putting them into the washing machine. While that was going I started on the dusting. I began with the shelves, then my draws, my desk and finally my bed side table. While I was doing the dusting I picked up things that needed to be put away especially around my desk where I had all my school books and paper around that needed to be sorted out. I make my bed every morning once I get up so that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about. Once everything was cleaned I had to vacuum the floor because I don’t vacuum my floor that often and it really needed a clean. Once my room was done the washing machine was finished so I had to hang up that on the drying rack as it wasn’t going to get dry on the washing line outside.

The first need cleaning has for me is time to myself. Having time to myself is important because otherwise I start to get tired and grumpy. Although I am not always alone when I clean most of the time I am as I only clean with my flat mates when we are all cleaning the whole flat. This time to myself gives me the chance to think about things while I am cleaning, it gives me the chance to relax, the chance to turn my music up loud and just sing along, it also gives me the chance to forget about my school work or get away from the flat mates for a while. 

“Humans are characterised by an intense need to do things...Humans doing exists in the framework of time. Humans are moved to occupy time with the things they do. This doing marks time’s passing and fills the present” (Kielhofner, 2008).  This brings up my second need for cleaning. I have a need to do things otherwise I feel as though I have wasted my time and not gone anywhere. I am able to sit and watch tv but this is only for a while as I get bored and start feeling like I should be doing something else.

References:

Kielhofner, G. (2008). Model of Human Occupation: theory and application. Baltimore. MD: Lippincott. Williams and Wilkins.

Ambience

Ambience is used to describe the activity as a whole. Cleaning is an activity that is carried out in everyday life. Some people identify cleaning as being a part of their roles for example mothers or wives feel it is their role to keep the home clean and warm for her family or so that it is welcoming to their guests. If you walk into a house that smells and you cannot see the floors and there is rubbish everywhere you are not going to feel very comfortable staying in that house for a long period of time, however if you walk into a house that is regularly cleaned with no rubbish anywhere but the rubbish bin, clean floors and dirty dishes in the kitchen ready to be washed then you won’t mind having to stay in that house for a long period of time.

I have cleaned for all of my life. My mum likes to have a clean house and my dad vacuums the house almost every day because he doesn’t like having dog hair everywhere. I believe the way I was brought up has influenced my cleaning habits. I believe that my spirituality and beliefs also affects my cleaning habits. I have been brought up in a house where the mother creates a warm clean home for her family and that is what I like to do. I like to share my cleaning with my flatmates and will clean the common areas of the flat so that they are comfortable hanging out in the flat without feeling like they are surrounded by rubbish.

Affordances

My understanding of affordances is how one activity can lead onto other activities such as talking to others or physically going to do something else.

Communication:  

This refers to how my activity (cleaning) offers opportunities of communicating with others.

In our flat we have a rule that we wash the dishes we make. However the three boys aren’t too good at following that rule so our kitchen gets loaded up with dirty dishes. So one night I got annoyed that there were no clean plates or cups so I decided to do the dishes. This took me about an hour and during that time my flatmates were walking in and out of the kitchen making themselves something to eat. As they were making food we talked about what we’ve been up to and having a catch up as some of the flatties don’t spend much time around the flat so it was a good chance to catch up as we were all in the kitchen doing something.  I felt a little annoyed as they were just making more dishes for me to do. Green (1986) states “Once done it is always undone..... In that sense labor is in principle never finished; it never reaches a point of completion, never comes to an end” which sums up exactly what was happening to me then. My flat mates were coming in and undoing my cleaning. 

Moral Properties:   

This refers to the good and the bad aspects of my activity.

Good Aspects:

•  It feels rewarding  and satisfying once completed
•   It is a gift to my flat mates when I clean dishes that are theirs etc.

Bad Aspects:

•  Exploitation from flat mates as they leave their dishes because they know I will do them when there is a huge pile
•  I procrastinate by cleaning. When studying in my room I will not start until I have tidied it up

Action Properties:  

This refers to other activities that come from doing my cleaning.

Here is a story of when I did some cleaning and other activities arose because of it.

We had been in contact with our landlord and had organised a time for him to come and do a flat inspection so I had to organise a time in the weekend for everyone to have a big clean up of the flat. When it came to the weekend we all did our part, the boys did their bathroom, rooms and mainly the outside while us girls did our bathroom, rooms and the kitchen and lounge. Once we had finished the cleaning we all sat in the lounge to have a rest and watch tv together.

References:

Green, T. (1986). Work, Leisure, and The American Schools. New York; Random House.

Ergonomics

In class we looked at the three parts of ergonomics - person, environment and activity. Ergonomics looks at how the three components are interrelated. As a therapist we look at how the occupation and environment best fit with the patient so we need 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” (Caulton & Dickson, 2007. p .93). In the stories I write in others blogs you will be able to identify the different sections of ergonomics.

For my activity (cleaning) here is my summary of the 3 sections of ergonomics:

Person:

•  I love to clean – I am a clean freak (I cannot study unless my room is spotless)
• I find cleaning relaxing as it gives me time to myself
•  I always feels satisfied after I clean as I feel I haven’t been wasting time
•  It also gives me the chance to catch up with my flatmates when we all get together to give the flat a clean

Environment: “The environment, both the physical content of it and the people within it, provides the context of performance” (Hagedorn, 2000. p . 16-17)

•   There must be something that needs to be cleaned
•  There may be others that want to clean with me or are around when I am cleaning
•  There must not be others around that are making a mess as soon as I have finished cleaning

Occupation: “the dominant activity of human beings that includes serious, productive pursuits and playful, creative and festive behaviours. It is the result of evolutionary processes culminating in biological and social need for both playful and productive activity” (Kielhofner, 1995)

• Cleaning can be done anywhere
•   It involves only a few cleaning products so it isn’t overly expensive
•  It is something that we all must do from time to time

References:

Caulton, R & Dickson, R. (2007). What’s going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In Creek, J., & Lawson-Porter, A. (Eds.). (2007). Contempory Issues in Occupationsl Therapy. Chichester. John Wiley & sons Ltd.

Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Structured Approach to Core Skills and Processes. London: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Kielhofner, G. (1995). In Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools for Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Structured Approach to Core Skills and Processes. London: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.