Keeping up with the blogs...

I have started following a couple of great new blogs and want to share them with my followers- thank you to everyone for keeping on reading my blog!

• Age Scotland (the Scottish 'arm' of Age UK) is a charity that works to improve the lives of all people in  later life. Age Scotland celebrates ageing and challenges ageist prejudice.

• KT-Equal is a consortium of UK researchers dedicated to extending quality life for older and disabled people.

Both have really interesting blogs that are regularly updated and that you can easily sign up to follow. They both fit in completely with the whole ethos of Lifestyle Redesign and all my learning during my travel award.
To see what they have to offer look at 'Blogs I am following' (scroll down the right hand side of this page).

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Award Ceremony

Last month I attended the WCMT award ceremony in Westminster, London (right next to the Abbey) for those who have recently completed their travel fellowships. The ceremony was organised very much like a graduation and there was lots of time to meet other 'Fellows' before and after the formalities. The guest of honour was Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who spoke about her athletic career and her subsequent involvement with the WCMT. She is an inspiring role model and I think we all felt it an honour to have her present our award.

Receiving my award from Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson

The whole day was so inspiring. I met people who have done such a range of travel fellowships, the variety of things covered is incredible. The ways that people intended to make use of their learning was also very interesting. Many people, and the WCMT staff, felt that the benefits would be apparent over time, not always immediately. Long lasting and profound changes have been seen in the future work of many Fellows. I felt more and more aware of the great honour that I have had in recieving a travel award- and very concious of the motto engraved on the medallion, 'With Opportunities Comes Responsibility'.

Study Visit Report

At last my report is completed and available through the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust website. I have added a link to the web page- go to the tab at the top of this page and you will find it, or use this link in your browser:

http://goo.gl/6KaFm

Z is for zeitgeber.......

Zeitgeber- literally ‘time giver’.

Our daily rhythms and routines are governed and influenced by a number of factors. Internal factors set by hormonal levels and circadian rhythms such as sleep/wake cycles may operate at a cellular level and remain roughly consistent but not exactly in synch with a 24 hour clock. Zeitgebers exert influences on our internal ‘body clocks’.

Examples of physical zeitgebers are noise or daylight, social zeitgebers could be meal times or bed time rituals. Zeitgebers are very important to maintain synchronicity between an individual and their environment e.g. helping to conform to the 24 hour cycle that governs most people’s lives as work and other activities are arranged to start and finish at set times daily.

We can experience the disruption of this relationship when we travel across time zones and have ‘jet-lag’. Any disruption in zeitgebers, such as a traumatic life event, can lead to a period of instability as usual routines are disrupted, literally enough to disrupt internal rhythms as the expected prompts no longer occur- perhaps this is why family holidays are said to be one of the most stressful occasions!

Zeitgebers can be used to help ‘train’ into a desired pattern of daily life or to reinforce and maintain stability. In order to perform at our best we need to be in balance with our internal rhythms. Occupational therapists may find that considering the implications of this can be helpful when working with individuals, especially those who are in a disrupted situation, such as an acute admission to hospital.

Y is for Yerkes-Dodson....

 

Yerkes & Dodson were the psychologists who defined the Yerkes-Dodson Law in the early 20^th Century.

This theory shows that human performance and learning of new skills varies with ‘arousal’ level. Arousal means interest, excitement or stress- a certain amount is good and increases ability to learn, but too much and performance begins to deteriorate. There are some classic graphs that demonstrate this- here is a link to a website that explains it in simple terms and gives the original reference too.

I chose this subject for my Y post as I thought it links quite closely with the concept of ‘flow’ (see F) used in occupational therapy. Flow occurs when someone is fully engaged in an activity, the activity needs to have the right balance of challenge and skill, so a certain amount of stress is involved- flow will not occur of the task is boring, but too much stress i.e. the task is too difficult, and flow will not occur either.

Whether we think of it as the Yerkes-Dodson Law or as the concept of ‘flow’, these are both ways of helping us understand the importance of pitching activities at the right level if they are to be effective, and that level will be different for every individual.

X is in neXt....

 

As in what’s next for this blog- OK cheating a bit I know, but X is difficult!

This blog began as a diary of the study visit I carried out earlier this year. I will continue to use it beyond the end of the A-Z challenge to record the experiences I have of putting my learning into action and sharing what I have learned. This will be an evolving process over time, so I will have plenty to write about.

The other day I did an informal presentation to the Occupational Therapy Support Workers group where I work, we had some really interesting discussions about the experiences I had and the similarities and differences between our workplace and those I visited. I was really inspired by their enthusiasm, interest and openness to new ideas.

I hope some of you who have become followers of this blog during the A-Z challenge will continue to follow and find this blog interesting and informative. I’ll try to keep it that way!

 

W is for Winston Churchill Memorial Trust…

 

Winston Churchill is an iconic figure in British history, best known for having been Prime Minister during the Second World War. On his death in 1965, a memorial fund was set up and the decision was made that instead of a building or statue, a ‘living memorial’ would be created. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT) funds travel awards for British citizens to travel abroad to learn and share knowledge and skills for the benefit of themselves, for Britain and for the countries they visit. WCMT’s slogan is ‘travel to make a difference’.

The study visit to Los Angeles that I undertook earlier this year has been the subject and inspiration for this blog. I owe a great debt of thanks to the WCMT for funding my visit and for their support throughout the whole process.

Last weekend I attended the Scottish Winston Churchill Fellows AGM. Three recent fellows gave presentations that demonstrated the wide range of subjects that are included. One was about hydro-electric schemes in Africa, one about early years parenting skills in Italy and the Netherlands and one about reducing losses in fishing vessels in North America. They were all fascinating and it was clear why the speakers had chosen their topic and how they planned to make use of their learning.

WCMT is developing the ways that it supports fellows once they return from their studies and is working to develop links and mentorship for key areas of study.

The whole experience has been a real once in a lifetime opportunity, and in many ways, the visit is only a beginning. I would very much encourage you to follow this link to the WCMTwebsite for more information.