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Hey Steph! I know this question was for Hannah, but I think that any connection is a good connection, regardless of who the group was initially targeting. As long as a person is getting a positive interaction or feeling supported from a group or social circle then I see no reason as to why they cannot join the group as well. While similar experiences may potentially create stronger relationships, the fact that the person feels supported and wants to open up to the group about their situation is more than enough of a reason for the person to continue going to the group as they are gaining positive interactions and relationships from the group.

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Grief/loss and decline in cognitive function

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Grief/loss and decline in cognitive function

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Hi Steph and Hannah! I loved how you pulled both the research and your personal experiences into this podcast. You synthesized all this information cohesively.

Steph, you spoke to observing cognitive decline in your grandmother after your grandfather's passing. I'm curious, do you think your grandfathers passing directly correlated to decreased cognitive abilities, or were these dementia-like symptoms present prior to the loss of your grandfather?

I am curious because I had never thought of grief as a causing cognitive decline in older adults-- I would have contributed your grandmother's symptoms entirely to old age given that she is in her 80s. However, given that we know depressive symptoms can significantly impair cognition, it makes a lot of sense the experience of grief and loss could cause or speed up cognitive decline in older adults. I am glad you brought this up, it is something I had never considered before. Do you think that the effects of grief and loss on older adults is often missed because we contribute cognitive deficits to old age before considering other potential factors?

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Hey Aaron! This discussion of films and tv shows and the importance of representation is reminding me of my undergraduate course titled communication disorders in movies where we would evaluate movies based on the accuracy of the portrayal of the communication disorder and what the actor and director did as background research to determine if there was attempt to be accurate and what that was. It truly is amazing how media can shape our perception and understanding of various populations. I don't know if there are laws around films now a days for directors or actors/actresses that are portraying a character with a condition, but if there isn't, then I think it would be a good idea for background training and education to be mandatory. in addition, this training and education should be provided by the population that the actor or director is wanting to portray. Especially since inaccurate portrayal can cause for the growth of stigma.

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Online Communities and OT Groups for Incarcerated Individuals 

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Online Communities and OT Groups for Incarcerated Individuals 

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Love this perspective, Bella.

I do agree that inmates should have more opportunities to connect with others while they are on the inside but also understand the need for limited communication and connected, especially depending on the crime. I think finding someone to monitor these interactions would be difficult and kind of defeat the purpose of the social media groups. I think a secure system for connection on the inside may be most beneficial. I think considerations of the crime and reason for incarceration could also be considered for online community involvement and participation.

I also agree with your perspective on OT vs prison run groups. I think OT run groups could really offer a lot to the inmates as well as many opportunities and perspectives that would not otherwise be thought about, considered, or shared. I wonder how open to this inmates would be, especially for those who are really trying to change and do better upon release.

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Hey Steph! I completely agree that focusing on occupations before grief and loss occurs is going to be beneficial to the individual when the time comes. I think something that could be added to the treatment plan could just be talking about grief and loss to the individual or perhaps watching films that involve a person who is experiencing grief and loss as ways to just help a person visualize what life may be like after a loved one passes or a major life change occurs. Of course, grief and loss is going to look different from person to person. However, I do think it could be beneficial to explore the feelings of grief and loss and watch others go through similar situations as a way to help someone conceptualize and plan for scenarios where this may occur. In addition, I think the subject of grief and loss could be talked about during any treatment session, even if the person does not know someone who is currently in end of life stages. As loss can occur at any time and so talking to clients about this subject may be helpful for everyone.

In regards to support groups, I think the type of group is going to vary from person to person since loss can come from a variety of situations. At the same time, I think being in any group talking about these subjects could be beneficial since every member is going through a loss of some kind and it is nice to know that one is not alone.

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Social media, VR, and group therapy in Prison systems

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Social media, VR, and group therapy in Prison systems

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Hey Steph! These are all such great questions!! While I think social media is a great way for people to connect with one another and share interests, I do think there is much to value during in person and face to face interactions to build relationships, especially since the prisoners are all together, these group interactions may help with building a stronger and more supportive community for them. In response to the second part of this question, I think joining social media groups can always have a positive and a negative since there are people that like to troll out there. With that said, the social media groups can still offer the person a community that they may not have had prior to joining the system. Of course, there may need to be legal things done such as monitoring to ensure safety for others in the group should there still be concerns for the individuals actions. In addition, while the prisoners are there maybe there could be a computer room that allows for prisoners to have a webpage with other inmates in the same prison and they connect with one another that way. I cannot say I am tech savvy enough to produce such a thing, but im sure there are other people out there who could create a secure system for this population to interact with one another and create their own shared story communities while incarcerated.

In regards to groups/group therapy inside the prison, I think a mix of both an OT run group and a group not run by an OT would both be beneficial to the individuals. The benefit to an OT group is that the OT can come in with their OT lens and evaluate and assess the individuals and the environment and potentially help with increasing occupational performance and satisfaction while in the prison and with targeting goals for when the client leaves the systems. At the same time, the non therapist group leader may help the group to feel less like a treatment session (incase people feel that way with a therapist) and more so just like a bunch of people hanging out because they enjoy doing activities together. I think both of these should be done to help better the communication with the group and other inmates. Regardless any group exposure will likely help the growth of a sense of community and partnership in the system.

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Problem with Neurodivergent Media Portrayals Based on Stigmas and How This Ties Into Negative Effects of Perceived "Correctness"

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Problem with Neurodivergent Media Portrayals Based on Stigmas and How This Ties Into Negative Effects of Perceived "Correctness"

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I love that you asked this question Bella! This is actually a topic that I am very passionate about and have personally explored during my journey accepting my identity as an autistic person. I do believe that portraying neurodivergent individuals in the media does have the potential to decrease stigma and help influence more accessible healthcare for neurodivergent individuals, similar to how greater representation of queer characters in media has supported decreased stigmas for the LGBTQ+ community. However, in the same way that media portrayals can decrease stigmas, they can also reinforce them, which unfortunately is typically the case for the neurodivergent community due to the lack of neurodivergent individuals in the writer's room providing the neurodivergent perspective and experiences to the depiction of neurodivergent characters. As an example, despite there being great depictions of autistic individuals in media (my personal favorites are Abed from the show Community and Max from the movie Mary & Max), the majority of depictions either portray the stereotypical autistic male character who is incredibly intelligent but has a lack of social skills, or the autistic character that falls into the "non-savior complex" in which the idea that they are incapable of overcoming their difficulties without support from a neurotypical individual is supported. This problem in media is something that affects people beyond the neurodivergent community, especially regarding mental health through overdramatization, such as with the show 13 Reasons Why, or exaggerations of mental health conditions, such as the exaggeration of dissociative identity disorder in the movie Split. Similar to Kimmy's point about neurodivergent individuals being pushed into society's abstract notion of "correct behavior," damage can be caused by stigmas creating societal standards of what mental health conditions look like and how they should be treated, resulting in many individuals being discouraged from seeking help or harmful practices being reinforced. One example of this is Sia's movie Music that promoted the use of prone restraint on autistic children having a meltdown, which is a practice that has resulted in physical and emotional harm and sometimes death inflicted on autistic individuals in real life. In terms of what role we as future OTPs can play in advocating for neurodivergent individuals regarding this subject, we can encourage clients to seek out representation in media that most resonates with them, regardless whether the representation they perceive as meaningful is neurodivergent representation. This is a practice I have seen within the autistic community because of the lack of purposeful representation of neurodivergent characters in media, which has led to some autistic individuals identifying meaningful connections with characters like Lilo from Lilo & Stitch despite these characters not being autistic themselves. Combining ideas from my podcast with Kristin discussing how stimming is a means of connection between neurodivergent individuals and the importance of acknowledging the intersection of various identities beyond neurodivergent identities on their own, Caitlin and Kimmy's podcast about patient influencers, and Hannah's post about social media peer support, supporting clients in relating to others depicted in media can provide sense of belonging and promote meaningful relationships both within and across communities they identify with.

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Death and Loss Conceptualized as Meaningful Occupations Influenced By Sociocultural Differences

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Death and Loss Conceptualized as Meaningful Occupations Influenced By Sociocultural Differences

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Great questions Steph! I think referring clients who are experiencing grief to a therapeutic support group depends on the clients' individualized needs. Does the client require one-on-one support in processing and recovering from grief, or would the client benefit from seeking support from others? However, I feel like extra care and attention is required for setting up a safe and productive therapeutic group environment for a focus as sensitive and personalized as grief. Whereas some clients may immediately find value and satisfaction from such a support group, others may not feel ready to share openly or have difficulties processing grief shared by others in addition to their own grief. Regarding grieving older adults either having the motivation to seek out support or falling into a sense of hopelessness in recovering, I believe sociocultural contexts may factor into how older adults perceive and act upon grief and loss differently. I really like a point made by Hannah that death itself is an occupation, which is something I had not really considered from that point of view. Death can be something that is purposeful to clients we engage with as OTPs, and how death is perceived by a person, group, or population is influenced by sociocultural contexts. For instance, my mom's side of the family holds the Filipino tradition of holding a Celebration of Life following a forty-day mourning period due to the belief that the person who has passed moves on to another stage of existence in the afterlife. Whereas members of my family view death as something that is initially sad but also natural and cause for celebration, others may view death as something that is completely negative or even indifferent. Also, as Sydney pointed out, grieving due to loss is not always because someone has experienced death but instead could be because someone has experienced a loss of connection. Grief and loss is complex in how it may present and how clients choose to approach and conceptualize the subject. As OTPs, we need to recognize these sociocultural beliefs and values that influence how clients engage in death and loss differently. Some clients may not be ready to process their grief while other clients may have predetermined sociocultural specific beliefs that guide the grieving process without much support. In structuring grief and loss therapeutic support groups, consideration of client factors is essential in ensuring all participants receive meaningful intervention.

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Bella, I had similar thoughts about social media and the population in the prison system. I am sure there are several groups they have the opportunity to attend inside, but what benefits do you think that may have over a social media group? Do you think it would be beneficial for this population to join groups on social media after their release or would there be too much risk of harm and negativity from them joining social media groups? Do you think there could be a system in prisons that could allow this type of virtual connection among prisoners for more open expression and vulnerability than in-person groups they likely have available to them?

I think the population would have a very different and unique perspective on mental health and groups/group therapy. I wonder how this could be done safely so the prisoner and others all feel comfortable and supported. What benefits could an OT offered group have inside the prison vs a group hosted by someone who works for the prison and is not a therapist? Do you think there would be better and more open communication in the group?

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Very interesting perspective on the reason surrounding grief/loss and it's impact. I think if someone is experiencing grief/loss, regardless of the context, they could be included in the group to see if it is the right fit for them. There could be others in the group who are not only experiencing grief from the death of a loved one but also due to a loss of connection, change in proximity, etc. There could still be a great deal to learn and ability to connect with those who are in different types and stages of grief or loss.

Hannah, I know you think separate groups may be better, but what if someone could make just one connection in the group that helps them more and is stronger than any other connection in another group? Do you think it has to be about true situational relatability?

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Hey Aaron! Thank you for your question! At the moment, I think one of the best things our profession can do is to keep pushing for services to be accepted and provided in prisons so that we can get intertwined from day one of people entering the system. I think it would also be great for us to advocate for incarcerated individuals to remain on their prescriptions that they came into the system with should they have been previously working. This could then help individuals with not losing their medicine regiment or prescriptions while in the system and then having to get it back once they leave. In addition, I think we could help with advocating for social workers for incarcerated individuals when they leave. I am unsure of the statistics for how many incarcerated individuals receive social workers, but I think making sure that a surplus of resources are always available is extremely important.

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I think it truly depends on the group members; however, as we talked about in class developmental groups work best when members of a group are at the same developmental level. Similarly, I believe having people with similar experiences in a group makes for better peer support. Because of this, I think having grief of people and grief of experiences, abilities, and changes as separate groups would be more beneficial.

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Hey Aaron and Kristin! I really enjoyed your podcast and love hearing about this topic from two people who have lived experience. When listening to your experience with stimming, it reminded me of the show "the middle" where in episode one, Brick whispers to himself, which is his "tell", and when his family asks him to stop, he states back to them that the whisper soothes him. I don't know for sure if this character is meant to represent neurodivergent individuals, but it was an example of people wanting someone else to suppress themself despite having done nothing wrong. This makes me think back to Kimmy and Caitlins podcast and social media and how social media can help to decrease stigma, but at the same time can reinforce it based on what media it is that someone consumes. This then makes me think back to my podcast with Syd and wonder how neurodivergent individuals who are incarcerated are treated in regards to mental health and how the system could be changed to better support them as well as neurotypical individuals. My question for you is do you think that portraying neurodivergent individuals in the media can help with decreasing stigma and how might this decrease in stigma change how neurodivergent individuals receive healthcare? In what ways could this portrayal not be beneficial? How can OTs help to advocate for neurodivergent individuals in both healthcare treatment and in the community?

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Hey Kimmy and Caitlin! This is such an interesting and thought provoking topic. Social media can be both beneficial and detrimental to ones health as it can provide online communities for people to connect and share experiences, like how you mentioned with the transgender platforms. However, at the same time, the information we consume can cause oneself to view themself in a negative way through comparing their lives to the lives of others, despite social media really just being a highlight wheel of life events opposed to real time everyday events and thoughts. This makes me think about Steph and Hannahs podcast about grief and loss with older adults and how social media platforms for them could be very meaningful and engaging to them, but that they may not have technology literacy which would be a barrier in access the benefits that social media communities can offer to people. This then also makes me think about my podcast with Sydney with mental health in the U.S. prison systems and how those in the system may also not have access to social media where they could benefit through online support groups or finding a community that they may not have had previously. My question for you is how could you see OTs promoting social media and technology literacy for populations that are often looked over? How would we go about advocating for social media in prisons and what would this look like? Could a prison influencer with a history of mental health be beneficial to other prisoners to come forward with their experiences with mental health?

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Social Media - Connections vs Comparison

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Social Media - Connections vs Comparison

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I think a lot of groups that would offer connection may differ from typical social media groups. I think in a lot of groups used as resources for connection and relatability can have a more therapeutic experience as group members are able to offer their lived experiences and directly relate to others through those. Outside of these sort of groups, I think there is definitely more comparison and judgement that is passed that could negatively impact mental health and no longer be beneficial. In a beneficial group, there tend to be many you sympathize, empathize, and offer suggestions of things that worked for them. There seems to be more compassion and a sense of actually wanting someone to do and be better than when they joined the group. Outside of one of these specific groups, I think comparison and judgement is more common and could certainly impact mental health. If someone is using social media as a therapeutic resource for connection, how would a practitioner/therapist monitor the client's usage and ensure they are not doing more harm than good by spending more time outside of the recommended group? When you access social media, there is typically that doom scrolling and all the ads that you see first on the way to accessing the preferred/recommended group. Do we just listen to the client's experience and take it at face value? If it is a resource we once recommended to someone, how will it look if we tell them it may no longer be therapeutic/serving them and that they should leave that group? Will they trust us with other recommendations in the future or constantly bring up the negative experience they had in a social media group?

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Hannah, I appreciate your question about how OTPs can support family members processing grief due to a loved one leaving for a long sentence. A similar topic came up last week at Park Danforth, when someone asked about joining the grief and loss discussion, and then chose not to because they were grieving a loss of connection to a family member, not the death of their family member. I think a broad conversation about grief and loss was appropriate in the context of Park Danforth, where people may have been grieving loss of their home and surrounding community during a time of change to their new living situation. While the contexts may differ, the strategies for dealing with grief might be the same. Do you think it would be appropriate to have a broader conversation around grief and loss in terms of change, or do you think it would be more beneficial to keep those groups separate?

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Steph, I think the idea of connecting through social media is pretty common! I'm not sure if you have to be actively involved in the community to gain benefit, or if just absorbing the conversation is enough. I think as far as improving their mental health, some active engagement might be necessary. This feels like it conflicts with the idea of social media being detrimental to mental health and personal well-being. How do you think those two things are balanced? Does the benefit of connection outweigh the negative influences of social media (like comparison, dissatisfaction, etc)?

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Syd, love this connection to finding connectedness on social media and grief/loss and how it has helped a peer of yours. How common do you think this is? Do you think the person needs to be open and forward with what is going on to make connections on social media or do you think they can lurk in the background and read other posts and still feel more connected and understood in what they are going through? Do you think this has a similar impact on their mental health if they are not actively involved in the online communities?

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Loneliness and Connection through Social Media

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Loneliness and Connection through Social Media

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The conversation about loneliness that Steph and Hannah brought up on their Grief and Loss episode made me think back to Kimmy and Caitlin's discussion of social media. The social media conversation brought up an example that for trans youth, social media offered a place to connect and an escape from loneliness. This makes me think of other isolated populations, such as those experiencing grief, and how they might find community online.

Through Facebook posts, I have seen how a fellow alumna from my high school has navigated a difficult diagnosis for her young son, and has expressed appreciation for the support of her social network, and shared resources/experiences of favorite providers. On the one hand, this person is really open about their experience, and shares moments of grief and loss for her expectations around motherhood and the health she wishes her son experienced. In a similar way, the patient influencers that Kimmy and Caitlin brought up are able to connect with others through shared experience, in a peer support kind of way.

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This is a great question, and one I’m sure there’s multiple answers to, but my first thought is to explore the individuals that interact with the influencer. This can include both the medical representatives (ie medication companies, pharmaceuticals, brands) and the people listed on the followers and following tabs. The reps the influencer work with may take more literacy skills to find and read up on, I believe part of the role of these influencers we talked about is to make the info and reasoning for working with the reps apparent on their pages, but taking personal responsibility to look beyond some of the smoke and mirrors can strengthen the validity of the influencers. Followers and following listing aren’t fully private information either, looking into comment sections and matching comments with people on lose lists can corroborate who actually interacts with the influencers content, and if followers aren’t also private, their experiences can be seen on their pages as well, strenghtening community connections.

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I thought it was extremely interesting, Kristin and Aaron, your discussion that explored stimming and the previous professional expectations of stopping neurodivergent individuals from stimming for the sake of “behaving correctly:” and the clear opposition to stopping due to the value of it being a self soothing and self expression act. It it important for us as future OTPs to consider the idea why someone is engaging in a behavior and whether it is interfering with or actually supporting a person performing/participating, or if it just doesn’t match into this abstract notion of “correct behavior.” It’s extremely discouraging hearing and viewing other people for being judged and criticized for acting “weird” when its of no harm or impact to another person, and it seems incredibly valuable for neurodivergent individuals to feel secure in their self expressions of stimming, and also using them as tools to connect with other neurodivergent individuals. I believe this can tie in well to the positive component of social media serving as a tool for mental health Caitlin and I discussed in our podcast. When you see others that match your self expressions and values, you build confidence in how you express yourself, you build a stronger community, and it challenges the ides of that abstract “correct” behavior so many neurodivergent individuals are shuffled into.

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That is such an interesting perspective that I don't think I would have connected the dots on.

When it comes to older adults and their changing social circle, it is often due to loss from a person passing away. When is comes to residents in the prison system, their changing social circle is often due to loss from a person leaving the system and often not coming back to right where they came from. Or, due to entering the prision system and not being able to return to the outside world.

Seeing these similarities, I think it would definitely be possible for similar support techniques to be used for residents in a prison and older adults experiencing loss.

This brings up an interesting question of: If an individual has been sentenced to enter a prison system and is unlikely to be released for a prolonged period of time, family members may be experiencing grief due to the loss of a loved one in their lives. What can we do as OTPs to support this population that may not be welcomed at the traditional grief group but is experiencing a very similar form of loss.

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As an OTP we can phrase the discussion towards what changes have they noticed in their everyday lives if someone is maybe not yet ready to discuss the topic. Such as asking about changes in routines, changes in fine motor functioning, changes in how they do things. Asking about how these changes have influenced their lives as they may not recognize that a change in ability at an older age often correlates to a loss. The OT can then help them adjust to these changes with implementing adaptive equipment, learning new skills to support the ones lost and so much more.

However if the topic does seem appropriate for the individual to talk about grief and loss, I believe it is appropriate to directly talk to them about it. Occupations are something you do in your life and death is an occupation. Working with your client to address their own occupation of death be an important conversation because there will be things that are culturally relevant, as well as important and meaningful to them. Similarly setting a goal for this plan they create and discuss with you to get put into writing or be told to a family member can help others prepare for the grief and loss.

If you are in a group setting discussing grief and loss, I think it is important to start the meeting by saying that you understand everyone has lived long lives that were not the same by any means. I had the opportunity to lead a group discussion on death in my undergrad experience and starting the group discussion off like this really set the tone for the meeting. When I posed a question I would make sure everyone had the opportunity to share and that the questions were phrased in a way that required "I statements". Having everyone respond with their personal "I statement" really made it more of a learning experience of listening to each other rather than telling everyone your opinions on the process.

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Support Systems Beyond Family & Caregivers

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Support Systems Beyond Family & Caregivers

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I agree Steph with how you tied all four podcasts together with the common factor of socialization. To answer your question about what we can do as future OTPs to better represent and provide greater accessibility for persons, groups, and populations to be supported without judgment, I feel like we can learn to acknowledge and advocate belonging in support systems clients may discover beyond family and their caregivers. Not everyone has family or caregivers available as a support system, and some individuals instead find support through friends, a therapeutic group, and/or sociocultural communities. As an example, some queer and trans individuals find support through a "chosen family" when their biological family rejects them. In recent times, social media has improved accessibility for connecting and establishing meaningful support systems, such as what Caitlin and Kimmy discussed in their podcast about trans adolescents and what I discussed in another post about my personal experiences discovering a sense of purposeful support in following autistic patient influencers on social media. Steph also made great points about the negative impact social media can have without proper OT monitoring, such as stigmas and difficulties with judgment being reinforced by social media for neurodivergent and trans communities. Thus as we look forward in improving advocacy for diverse support systems, we should consider how we as future OTPs can utilize social media as a resource in supporting clients' sense of belonging while also minimizing the negative effects social media can have on mental health and well-being.

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Issue with Limiting Purposeful Behaviors and Accessibility to Resources Within Healthcare

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Issue with Limiting Purposeful Behaviors and Accessibility to Resources Within Healthcare

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I love how you tied together all of the podcasts together in your response Steph! Whether neurodivergent individuals are having stimming behaviors suppressed and discouraged, men are being discouraged from engaging in coping skills or mental health resources because of stigmas around toxic masculinity, or individuals who were incarcerated are lacking accessible resources to medications provided while in the prison system, overarching and persistent problems amongst all healthcare professions are the lack of advocacy for accessible resources to support mental health after care has concluded and the limited autonomy provided to clients in encouraging engagement in meaningful behaviors and activities that are not recognized by the traditional medical model. How do we as future OTPs work toward greater efforts supporting these neglected and/or misunderstood activities, behaviors, and resources that are meaningful to clients but not advocated nor given justice from healthcare professionals? Similar to what Hannah outlined in her post about some individuals finding a sense of community and belonging from YouTube comments, how can we as future OTPs ensure we are actively educating ourselves and remaining informed on the perspective and values of clients and their communities beyond solely evidence-informed practice and our professional opinion within healthcare, as well as being advocates in connecting clients with "more holistic" resources such as patient influencers?

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Great questions, Bella! I think OTs can help older adults maintain and reestablish routines that have been affected by loss, both in the home and outside of the home (such as encouraging social participation with those in their circle that remain and connecting them with other supports - family, new friends, support groups, etc). For grief that is coming, I think focusing on other occupations, especially play, leisure, and socialization, would help prepare the older adult for the impending loss and grief. I do believe having treatment plans that include these things would be beneficial so the older adult feels they have something left, tangible or otherwise as routines, habits, and values heavily impact a person in their daily activities. What do you think would be the best think to include in a treatment plan to help mitigate effects of grief and loss? Do you think there is anything that you would be able to implement with each older adult experiencing loss or do you think it would be so client specific you would have to start at the beginning each time? Would you refer clients to the same support group and hope they connect with each other that way?

Aaron, do you think as an OTP you would refer all clients experiencing the same thing to the same support group? Would that be beneficial? Do you think there would be a conflict of interest to refer all of your grieving clients to the same support group? I'm curious if talking to someone once (such as the pro bono clinic) would give them ideas of things they could do on their own as they feel comfortable or if they would need services for X amount of time to work through personal things? Do you think a grieving older adult would have the motivation to seek out the help they really need or would they already feel isolated and alone and allow depressive symptoms to take over and begin thinking that they are next so healing a loss isn't worth the work it may take?

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Hey Hannah and Steph, great podcast! I found the article that you found interesting as it mentioned how loss can cause an imbalance in social structure which can lead to increased loneliness thus increase the risk of developing depression. The idea of structure is fascinating as it is something that we as a society thrive on in order to complete daily tasks to keep systems such as education, health care, business, prisons, etc running. Yet structure is also found in the lives of the individuals who are responsible to keep those systems functioning. As mentioned, the lives of older adults are constantly changing/shifting and potentially narrowing with age. These changes can then also impact the older adults family members as well with the loss of loved ones or watching their loved ones go through the process of grief and loss. My question for you, is how do we as OTPs implement structure into our treatment plans to prepare our clients for grief/loss that has yet to happen if this is a subject they have not thought or interacted with much? Should greif/loss be something that we speak to clients with if it is something that has yet to impact them and how do we go about those conversations? Could structuring these topics into treatment plans help to decrease the occupational impact that grief has on a persons daily life and potentially help to decrease the stigma of feeling emotions such as sadness for older generations?

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Socialization truly seems to be a common factor for all of these populations (older adults, neurodivergent, trans, mental health, and more). Making sure one has the proper connections and support truly seems to have a significant impact on how further challenges present and where support can be found and how it should be provided based on the need. How can the field of OT be better represent and made available to more individuals and populations so they know they are not alone and know there are supports and people who care about them without judgement?

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I think social media can certainly be a great outlet to find connections and validation in many scenarios. For some, I can see the positives in finding a community as Kimmy mentioned. Linking this to the neurodivergent podcast and grief in older adults podcasts - for older adults, it is unlikely that social media could aid them with connections as their social circle shrinks as this population typically does not excel with technology. Thinking about my grandma, she loves to be shown pictures and things on the phone (often from social platforms by us grandkids) but would never be able to do that on her own. For the neurodivergent population, I feel they could also come across a lot of stigma and struggle with self-identity or judgement while trying to find their best-fit community, as they may already feel as though they are on the outside, especially as their stimming may make them stand out more to others, similar to how someone from the trans community may feel. These communities could be very helpful and an OT could aid in finding online groups and communities in all of these populations but how and when do we as OTPs weigh the benefits of online communities vs in-person groups and communities for various populations? How person centered can online communities be (outside of a broad category) and how does the OT monitor the benefits of that group/community on the client and make sure it remains positive for them?

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Future of Healthcare: Social Media Peer Support 

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Future of Healthcare: Social Media Peer Support 

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I fully agree with you Aaron on this. I think as someone who is always interested in learning more about different conditions I often find myself watching these “patient influencer” videos to learn a more holistic visual to a condition and person rather than a google or textbook definition that I would probably forget.

I think something that we could see be developed in the near future is a healthcare social media peer support.

This ties into what Kimmy and Caitlin as well as Kristin and Aaron were sharing about individuals turning towards social media and people who are similar to them to feel a sense of community. There is one girl in her 20s on social media that I have been following for a few months now and she started a channel after being diagnosed with cancer. She was immediately curious how fast she would lose her hair and looked online to see if she could find anyone to watch that could share their experience of going through chemo/ radiation and hair loss. Not being able to find anyone she created her own channel and each day post a short video of her brushing her hair and giving a quick update as to how things feel and what is going on. The comment sections on her videos seem to be such a supportive place where people who were once like her searching for videos are able to form a community of peers going through similar situation.

I am seeing this more and more and am curious how this will develop in the future as it could be a really supportive environment for people to build community.

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I appreciate this quote that Aaron brought up in his podcast and linking it through to his discussion.

"Behind every behavior is a feeling and behind every feeling is a need"

I think this not only is prevalent in the neurodivergent community as Aaron and Kristen discussed but also in me and Steph's podcast where is someone recognizes a behavior an older adult may be eliciting can fully determine the older adults mental health and if they receive the proper supports or not.

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Thinking about Bella and Syd's podcast, as individuals move through the prison system, they typically are not just dealing with that situation that got them there. In most instances, these individuals are also dealing with loss, not only potential physical losses of friends, family, or others from criminal acts, but they are also losing a part of their supportive social circle - whether that be those they are on the streets with (in whichever capacity that may be) or people who truly care and support them, family or otherwise. As their social circle changes and they continue to deal with mental health issues, "fit in" in prison, and wonder who they will have if/when they are released, a lot of changes are occurring and contributing more to their mental health and stability. In this podcast and relating it to loss in older adults, an ever changing and shrinking social circle would likely have a similar impact and potentially lead to depressive feelings and symptoms in the incarcerated population as well. Interesting to think about the relationship between a changing social circle and depression and the similarities and differences between these very different populations. Would similar support techniques for social group changes aid both of these populations?

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Professional Resource Availability and Reliability 

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Professional Resource Availability and Reliability 

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It seems that despite there being professionals that can help (or other help available), many of them may not have had the best training or have stayed up to date with the changing times. From Aaron and Kristin's podcast, hearing them speak about the professionals being told to stop the stimming of the individuals does not seem beneficial! Stimming is typically a harmless outlet and a way for anyone to express and calm themselves. Regardless of being neurodivergent, I believe most people have something similar to stimming that they engage in during stressful times in their lives, whether it is intentional, short lived, and ignored by others due to its association to hardship. Being told to stop a behavior, that is expressing a need and calming the individual, would discourage someone reaching out for additional help, likely making them feel small. Linking this to Kimmy and Caitlin's podcast and the stigma around males accessing help (with anxiety) and using social media to cope with feelings. Validation and support should come from professionals and no one should shy away from seeking that out to better themselves. Lastly, assistance should be available to inmates who are leaving the prison system so they can continue their medication regimes and try and better themselves and not be stuck in that vicious cycle.

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Sense of Community Supports Self-Esteem and Eases Mental Health Burden in Adolescents

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Sense of Community Supports Self-Esteem and Eases Mental Health Burden in Adolescents

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A common idea between Caitlin and Kimmy's podcast and Kristin's podcast with me is that sense of community supports higher self-esteem and lower mental health burden for adolescents. In the same way transgender adolescents use social media as a positive tool in building social participation with other transgender individuals, sharing self-affirming perspectives, and providing guidance to access resources, neurodivergent adolescents use stimming to identify feelings and share understanding with other neurodivergent adolescents.

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Loneliness As Independent Factor of Depression

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Loneliness As Independent Factor of Depression

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A common idea between Hannah and Steph's podcast and my podcast with Kristin is the correlation between loneliness and depression. Similar to how Steph pointed out in pertinent research that loneliness is found to be an independent factor of depression, Kristin and I discussed in our podcast how the suppression of stimming limits a means of connection between neurodivergent adolescents, resulting in isolation and lack of social participation amongst members of the neurodivergent community that increases risks of depression and suicidality.

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Social Media Health Literacy Related to Patient Influencers

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Social Media Health Literacy Related to Patient Influencers

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Those are great points from Kimmy and Caitlin about how patient influencers on social media can provide guidance and means of social engagement with others to individuals with similar mental health experiences. This is something that has personally helped me, with autistic patient influencers being a meaningful resource in improving my self-esteem as an autistic person and discovering a sense of community with other autistic individuals. I am curious about whether OTPs can use patient influencers as effective resources for clients since some patient influencers may provide inaccurate or false information to followers. A famous example of the negative impact patient influencers can potentially cause is Belle Gibson, who claimed to successfully recover from brain cancer using alternative medicines and was later revealed to be spreading fraudulent information. What health literacy concepts can we apply to social media resources, particularly patient influencers?

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Advocating for OT Services Supporting Persons with Serious Mental Illness During Transition Out of the Prison System

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Advocating for OT Services Supporting Persons with Serious Mental Illness During Transition Out of the Prison System

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I like the point made by Bella and Syd about advocating for OT services that support individuals in incarceration secure access to housing and prescription medications when transitioning back into the community. I am curious about additional roles OTPs can play as part of an interprofessional team in helping persons with serious mental illness (SMI) adapt to daily living out of the prison system, particularly regarding increased risks of depression and suicidality. This is a challenge tackled in The Shawshank Redemption and Orange Is the New Black, in which persons with SMI have difficulties re-enter the community after growing accustomed to easily accessible securities in incarcerated daily living. How can our profession improve advocacy efforts and services in supporting persons with SMI in and out of the prison system?

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Individualized Grief/Loss in Therapeutic Group Process with Older Adults

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Individualized Grief/Loss in Therapeutic Group Process with Older Adults

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Thank you Steph and Hannah for sharing your personal experiences in the podcast. The point that was most impactful is how grief/loss is individualized from person to person, as expanded on with Steph's and Hannah's grandmothers having different grief/loss experiences and needs. I am curious how OTPs can support older adults with individualized grief/loss through therapeutic group process, prompted by Hannah mentioning the OT Pro Bono clinic group that will be focusing on grief/loss. As an example, if participants have different sociocultural values and beliefs about perceiving loss and managing grief, how can we facilitate purposeful group process that acknowledge and support personalized mental health needs?

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Kimmy and Caitlin - Social media and mental health

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Aaron & Kristin Podcast - The mental health experiences of neurodivergent individuals

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Bella and Syd "A Look within the Walls: Mental Health in the US Prison System"

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Hannah and Steph: Grief/Loss older adults mental health