ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog

Hi and thank you for stopping here to look at the poster handouts that are being distributed at the 2017 AOTA conference! If you were unable to get a copy of the handout of the poster presentation, the files below are hi-res JPG scans that you can download and view in a larger format. This version of the timeline is one small step of a multi-year project attempting to document George Barton's life.  I was always struck by the fact that his life story was documented in such a limited way as compared to other occupational therapy founders.  The lack of previously published information on Barton motivated my effort. Having personal geographic proximity to Clifton Springs made the project interesting from that perspective as well. This effort started by happenstance and with a meeting my wife Caroline had with George Barton Jr.'s wife Barbara.  She was kind enough to supply materials to us that started this inquiry.  A visit to Consolation House also yielded resu...

Another update in the ongoing saga of the failing New York State Early Intervention program: The Governor's 2018 budget proposal adds new requirements on insurance companies and providers.  Under other circumstances, a provider or fiscal intermediary would simply operate within the available rules that exist in the private marketplace, but since the State has designated a fiscal agent that is unable to compete in the free market, the Governor is forced to rewrite insurance laws in order to facilitate payment.  In FY 2016, nearly 85% of claims submitted by the Early Intervention State Fiscal Agent to private insurers were denied.  The idea of cost sharing with private insurance has been a failure because the State botched the implementation and has contracted with an incompetent fiscal agent.  The breakdown of payment of Early Intervention costs has been as follows: Private insurance: 2% Medicaid: 41% NY State: 27% Counties: 30% This is AFTER the State inve...

On 11/8/16 I wrote In both of these cases it is important to carefully analyze the details of what is actually being litigated.  So often the truth of what is being discussed gets lost in poor reporting about the topics.  For example, many news outlets focus on the 'evil school district vs. the child in the wheelchair with Wonder the GoldenDoodle' meme instead of focusing on the decidedly less appealing 'what is the importance of due process' angle. As OTs become more savvy with policy analysis they will avoid the bias-trap of media reporting and try to approach a more 'rational comprehensive' method of considering the actual facts.  They will also become more savvy by dropping the naive notion that just because an issue might have the superficial appearance of something that should be supported, it is important to dive deeply into the actual policy to make sure we are promoting what is best for the people who seek our services. Turns out th...

...but you might delay things just a little while because of winter weather! Today a gathering was scheduled in Clifton Springs for a celebration of the occupational therapy founding.  The mayor was also scheduled to issue a proclamation but the celebration had to be postponed due to inclement weather.    The event will be rescheduled. +++ The March 8. 1917 Clifton Springs Press had an announcement about the upcoming First Consolation House Conference, but it also had an interesting article about George Barton.  The subheadlines and text of the article are notable because they provide direct evidence of exactly how the Clifton Springs community felt about his efforts and also how influential he was. The article quotes an unnamed folk source as saying, "You can't keep a good man down, especially when he runs an elevator for a living."  The newspaper editor goes on to state "and in no instance has the editor found opportunity to apply this witicism, ...

Follow-up to Ethical occupational therapy practice in nursing home care Studying historical phenomenon is helpful for framing modern problems - and so I would like to draw attention to an article that appeared in Modern Hospital in September 1922. The author of the article, Christine Newman, was Head Aide of the Howell State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis in Howell, Michigan.  The facility is described as "a self-sufficient entity that aimed to meet the patients' and employees' every need with a working farm, apple orchard, convenience store, post office, water and heating plants and kitchen staff." This model of 'self sufficiency' was common among asylums and sanitariums in the 19th century.  I would like to recommend Dr. Katherine Ziff's book Asylum on the Hill as well as her blog ; these resources are invaluable to understanding a model of asylums during this time period and offer a counterpoint for understand modern institutions. Ms. Newman...