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February 16, 2014
The Blog Has Moved: Same Great Content; New Location
The Entwistle Power Occupational Therapy Blog has moved to the new Entwistle Power website. Please update your bookmarks to www.entwistlepower.com/blogs
If you are a current subscriber your will begin to receive your daily updates from the new site.
If you are a current subscriber your will begin to receive your daily updates from the new site.
February 14, 2014
February 13, 2014
Daily Dose of Inspiration
When times get tough and you feel it may be easier to throw in the towel than to power through, watch the following based on the famous "Don't Quit" poem and be reminded that "success is failure turned inside out," and you need to find the strength within to push through the tough times. Don't quit.
How Does Your Relationship Affect Your Health?
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and on this day many reflect on and celebrate those they love. Relationships have a long term effect on both our mental and physical health. The following from Psychology Today discusses how when selecting a mate we should be careful to examine their healthy and not-so-healthy habits as these may influence the way you live. Already in a relationship? Take time with your partner to discuss how the two of you can work together to improve your healthy habits.
Psychology Today: In Sickness and In Health
Psychology Today: In Sickness and In Health
February 12, 2014
Daily Dose of Inspiration
"Nothing you can know that isn't known. Nothing you can see that isn't shown. Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be..."
"All You Need is Love" by The Beatles
Find on iTunes
Food For Thought: Heart Healthy Recipes
February is Heart Month and what you eat can affect the health of your heart. However, heart healthy foods don't have to be bland. The recipes featured this month will be delicious, heart healthy, and easy to make meals you can prepare ahead of time, freeze and enjoy anytime.
This vegetarian chili from The American Heart Association is packed full of healthy proteins and super-foods. Make a double batch and freeze to enjoy all winter long.
February 11, 2014
Can Healthcare in Canada Learn From the Olympics?
We've waited four years for another winter Olympics and they are finally here! For the next 2 weeks athletes from around the world will put it all on the line to strive to be the best in their particular sport. How do they get there? Through diligent physical and mental training and excellent coaching. The following from the Hamilton Spectator has drawn a parallel to how Olympic athletes are coached and trained to how Canada can improve its healthcare system. Read on and see if you agree that coaching may be the missing link to giving Canadians the best healthcare possible.
The Hamilton Spectator: Healthcare Improvement and the Olympics
The Hamilton Spectator: Healthcare Improvement and the Olympics
February 10, 2014
Can the Ontario Government Suck AND Blow?
So your spouse, child, mother, brother, friend is injured in a car accident. They broke both legs and have been quickly discharged from hospital. An Occupational Therapist visits the home and prescribes some equipment, sets them up on the main floor, makes sure they have options for bathing, toileting, sleeping, can eat and get out of the house if they needed to, and calculates the amount of care they need in order to safely survive at home in this state. This is calculated in minutes of care, and converted to a dollar benefit based on pre-determined (government) hourly rates.
Prior to 2010, this money (attendant care) would be given to the client, and they could use this to pay the providers of their care. They could choose the provider based on many factors, with most selecting the person that they were least embarrassed with in the washroom and shower.
In September 2010, FSCO decided that this benefit would only be provided when the care provider could prove an “economic loss”. I get why they wanted to do this. Too often, attendant care monies were “improving” the financial position of the injured (extra income) and was not always being used for care. As it is inherent in the insurance act to not “advantage” people, the industry decided they needed to make some changes.
Proving an “economic loss” became a hot topic. Some insurers wanted to only pay the amount of the loss, and others would pay the amount of attendant care benefit (as calculated by the OT), as long as a loss existed. This issue was tried in court, and in Henry vs Gore (2013) the decision was that “the extent of the economic loss was irrelevant…as long as there was any economic loss during the period in question the person can qualify for the services they provided…”
Then, just last month this decision was overturned by the Ontario government, the SABS were amended, and now people providing care cannot receive more “than the extent of the economic loss sustained by the attendant…as a direct result of providing the care…”
So, I ask, can the government really suck and blow? I guess so because there are so many elements of this that both defy logic and are clearly unfair. Here is my list:
- So, if my economic loss is $100 / week (I work part time at Tim Horton’s), I get $100 / week even when the care needed is calculated at more. So, if the care is calculated at 24 hours / day (as it can be) I get paid .59 cents per hour. Is that legal?
- Then the reverse must also be true. If I make $10,000 / month (as some people do) then I would get paid $10,000 / month (my economic loss) to provide care, right? WRONG. The max is $6000 regardless, and I suspect the insurer would only pay me the amount of the benefit which is often less than the max. So, they cannot “advantage” me, but they can “disadvantage” me?
- So, I guess they will pay the full amount for private care then, right? WRONG. The form calculates at rates of $10.25, $13.19 and $19.35 per hour (for recent accidents) but the agencies charge $25 / hour or more. So, the amount of hours I need is irrelevant as I can’t get the hours anyway in the calculated amount.
- If an agency is the only option (as my family will not work for .59 cents per hour), and most have a three hour per shift minimum, but my care is calculated at 2 hours per day, then I have to go without? Or I guess I will just use the toilet tomorrow instead?
- If I was making $30 / hour and worked 40 hours / week, but now need to provide care for 80 hours / week, they will pay me at my “economic loss” hourly rate, right? Nope. They will pay the amount of the benefit, again calculated at up to $19.35 / hour. So, I prove the loss, then take a loss following.
- If my family can’t live on .59 cents per hour, and an agency declines to work with me because of my behavior, complicated needs, or because my house is a health hazard, the insurer will change their mind and pay my family, right? Doubt it.
Then, there are policy limits. So, regardless of my economic loss, or the care needs of my family member, there will still only be $36K available if they are seriously injured, or $1M if they are catastrophic.
If the government wants to truly suck here, then they should not be able to blow. Either pay an agency the number of hours needed, at the agency hourly rate, without monthly or policy limits, OR pay an unqualified provider the amount of care needed calculated at the pre-determined rates. If you cannot advantage people, then you should not be able to disadvantage people either. Their accident already disadvantaged them enough.
February 7, 2014
Daily Dose of Inspiration
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes
courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, “I will try again
tomorrow.”
Mary Anne Radmacher
Weekly Mind Bender
I
have an eye but cannot see.
I’m faster than any man alive and have no limbs.
What am I?
February 6, 2014
Daily Dose of Inspiration
The Super Bowl has come and gone and another NFL season has come to an end. Whether you enjoy football or not, the following story of a rising star athlete is sure to amaze and inspire you.
Improve Your Concentration
Are you easily distracted? Find it hard to concentrate or focus? Distractions such as emails, phone calls, co-workers, and thoughts about your home life can reduce your productivity at work. And this is a vicious cycle where by being inefficient just leads to more work, more anguish, and more inefficiency! The following from Health.com provides great tips to stay focused, complete tasks in an efficient manner, and essentially be more productive with less stress.
Health.com: 13 Ways to Improve Your Concentration at Work
Health.com: 13 Ways to Improve Your Concentration at Work
February 5, 2014
Daily Dose of Inspiration
"You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug. You can be the outcast, or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love; or you can start speaking up."
"Brave" by Sara Bareilles
Find on iTunes
Food For Thought: Heart Month Recipes
February is Heart Month and so much of prevention involves dietary changes to reduce the risk. The recipes featured this month will be delicious, heart healthy, and easy-to-make meals you can prepare in advance, freeze and enjoy anytime.
February 4, 2014
It's Heart Month: Recognize The Signs
According to Statistics Canada, every 7 minutes someone dies from heart disease or stroke, making these two of the three leading causes of death. (Statistics Canada) February is Heart Month and we will be providing heart healthy tips, recipes and more. But beyond prevention, understanding the signs and symptoms of a heart attack is essential to early intervention and could save your life, or the life of someone around you. The following video starring Elizabeth Banks, and created by the "Go Red For Women" campaign, is both entertaining and factual. Please view this important video, it may save your life or the life of someone you love.
February 3, 2014
Daily Dose of Inspiration
“Believe that life is worth living and
your belief will help create the fact.”
William James
Wash Your Car!
Working in auto insurance makes me slightly paranoid about issues of vehicle safety. Ideally, it would be great if car accidents could become extinct and people could go about their business without running the risk of becoming injured in their travels, but currently these remain one of the main causes of adult and child injury, death and disability. So, maximizing car safety should be on the top of everyone’s list.
Years ago, in the middle of winter, I was driving home from seeing a client at night. I was on back roads that were not lit. My headlights were on, but I could barely see the road in front of me. I struggled with this, assuming I had a headlight out, and managed to get to a gas station. There, I investigated the problem and realized my headlights were just covered in the road sludge so common in Ontario winters. I cleaned up my headlights with a window squeegee and voila! I could see again.
Prior to this, the thought of washing my headlights never occurred to me. Why would it? Unless you encounter a problem, this is not something I remember being taught in driver’s ed, nor something my parents mentioned to look for as I was learning to drive. Some things we just learn in life the hard way – hoping to not be hurt in the process.
I remember when cars started to be manufactured to have headlights on automatically and all the time. I said to my brother “I don’t get why headlights should be on during the day, they won’t help a driver to see better” and he responded with “it is so other people can see you better”, I am sure adding a brotherly “dummy” in there too.
The other day I was reminded of these lessons again. It was a sunny day, but the roads had been a mess a few days prior. I was driving in the right lane and needed to change into the left lane to make an upcoming left turn. I glanced in my dirty side mirror and my rear mirror which was looking out my dirty back window, and I didn’t see anyone. I checked my side mirror again, and noticed something that looked odd. I focused more clearly and realized that there was another car to the left of me after all. This was a black car, covered in the grey muck of winter. The lights weren’t on, and what struck me was how much this car was essentially the color of the road. The road was a grey, dirt covered mess, and this car blended right in. Had the lights been on, or the car clean, I would have spotted this easily.
Really, both these issues with visibility when driving – to see and be seen – could be tackled with a simple car wash. Even if this seems futile with ongoing weather coming, the short-term benefits are immense. A clean car is easier for others to see, gives you better visibility when the windows and side mirrors are clear, and washes your headlights to make sure these are most effective. Besides, of course, the other benefits of washing road salt and sand from your paint job. Many gas stations have a quick car wash adjacent to the pump, and allow you to pay at the pump for convenience. Or, some car washes are even a drive-thru format and you don’t even have to leave your car. In the end, when it comes to road and driving safety, the added expense of giving your car a rinse could be “priceless”.
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