Playing games

One of the fun aspects of being an occupational therapist is getting to play games. There are several legitimate reasons for doing this. Part of my role is to find ways for my patients to do everything they consider important. Obviously most people wouldn't consider games to be very important in the big scheme of things but it ranked up there with one of my patients who gets together with friends once a week to play cards. She was in the rehab unit to regain her strength following surgery. One days she has been working hard on the physical aspect of her recover so I suggested we play a game of cards. Her daughter was there so we got a three person game going. There wasn't anything particularly challenging about the physical aspects of playing. She could shuffle, deal and hold the cards. She also didn't seem to have any problem understanding the rules of a game she hadn't played in a long time. But it did lift her spirits and remind her that she would soon be back home getting together with friends for a lively game of bridge.

Connect Four is another game I've played several times this past week with a patient who is recovering from a stroke. Physically she is making big strides as she regains strength and coordination on her left side. She is now walking around the unit with the help of a walker. Last week her left hand began to cooperate enough to be able to consistently tie her shoes without any help. One of the big barriers to her functioning independently is paying attention to what is on her left. She has a visual field cut which is common after strokes. As a result she thinks she is seeing everything, but in reality she isn't. Imagine your left peripheral vision shrinking to just a few degrees left of center and you'll have a good idea of what she can see. This can result in running into the left side of doorways or not seeing the piece of pie on the left side of your tray. Connect 4 is a great game to play to remind her to look all the way to the left. As we play, my goal is not to beat her but to give her enough cues that she realizes what she is missing and can figure out how to block me if I'm about to win. I also have told her that she can win with one more move and waited until she found it.