Üsküdar Üniversitesi Institute of Health Sciences Master's students of Occupational Therapy, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Sevda Asqarova, organized the 12th “Corona Diaries: Occupational Therapy Interventions” program. The program, moderated by Berkay Karpuz and attended by many speakers from different fields, included evaluations in areas such as medical social services, physical activities, and approaches to children with autism during the pandemic. “Medical social services focus on the individual's family and social environment.” Occupational Therapist Rabia Bulut, a 2019 graduate of Üsküdar University's Occupational Therapy department, made evaluations in the field of medical social services. Bulut stated, “Medical social services focus on the individual's family and social environment. This approach is in the context of illness, but it is beneficial to approach the subject from a health perspective. The World Health Organization's definition of health is 'a state of complete physical, social, and mental well-being'; illness and health are interrelated, and it is almost impossible to draw the line between them. The common goals of medical social workers are to protect and reorganize health and to work together with multidisciplinary team members. It addresses human health in its physical, psychological, and emotional dimensions and offers a holistic approach.” She spoke. “Physical activity is reported as an important strategy during the coronavirus crisis.” Occupational Therapist Uğur Arslan, a 2020 graduate of Üsküdar University's Occupational Therapy department, made evaluations regarding research on physical activity during Covid-19 and related occupational therapies. Arslan said, “As we know, we are going through a challenging pandemic period, and important duties fall to us, just as they do to every healthcare worker. Physical activity is reported as an important strategy during the coronavirus crisis. Physically more active people are observed to have better mood, cognitive status, and coping methods for stress. Despite being such an important method, there was a decrease in physical activities during the pandemic. This led to the negative effects of prolonged physical inactivity. As a precaution, in addition to physical activities, it is necessary to pay attention to nutrition, and we need to maintain our psychological well-being by meeting with friends online.” He said. “Parents are the most important actors in a child's therapy.” Floortime Therapist and Audiologist Büşra Özkan talked about the relationship-based therapy method applied to children with autism. Özkan stated, “Understanding where the child is developmentally is important for planning the treatment program. We have 6 functional emotional developmental stages. These stages represent the developmental capacities children learn as they grow intellectually and emotionally. Parents are the most important actors in a child's therapy. The parent-child relationship is vital for identifying a child's developmental deficiencies.” She spoke. “How can we improve our quality of life during the pandemic?” Occupational Therapist Veysel Özkök touched upon occupational therapy interventions aimed at increasing our quality of life within the 'there is life at home' format. Özkök said, “How can we improve our quality of life during the pandemic? We can do this primarily by starting the day early. Waking up at the same time we used to wake up before the pandemic for work or school helps us return to our old routine by recalling the processes of adaptation, simulation, and balancing that our cognitive structure had established before the pandemic, within a schema. Consuming amino acids to prevent stress-induced damage affecting mood in nutrition shows an extra state of well-being in a person's biological and cognitive health. Exercising, while complementing us physically, acquiring hobbies, interacting with the right people, taking notes, stopping procrastination, and setting goals are also efforts to increase our quality of life.” He said. Don't think of spending quality time with children as sacrificing other things… Child development specialist Gamze Yardım talked about activity suggestions that will strengthen children's communication with family members during the pandemic. Yardım stated, “No matter your child's age, the key to having healthy conversations with them is to remember that they are individuals. Correcting and restricting them while talking, in addition to understanding the value of focused and positive attention for your children, develops insincere and complaining attention and does not meet their need for love. Children understand how you feel about them through your behaviors in your communication. The only important thing is to remember that the behavioral forms of love are simply physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and positive words. Shared time is the most beautiful form of undivided and focused attention; as your child grows, the process of spending quality time with them will also differentiate. Don't think of spending quality time with children as sacrificing other things; on the contrary, sharing your time together will help develop sincerity in your communication and a sense of responsibility for both parties.”
“Medical social services focus on the individual's family and social environment”
Occupational Therapist Rabia Bulut, who graduated from Üsküdar University's Occupational Therapy department in 2019, made evaluations in the field of medical social services. Bulut stated, “Medical social services focus on the individual's family and social environment. This approach is in the context of illness, but it is beneficial to approach the subject from a health perspective. The World Health Organization's definition of health is 'a state of complete physical, social, and mental well-being'; illness and health are interrelated, and it is almost impossible to draw the line between them. The common goals of medical social workers are to protect and reorganize health and to work together with multidisciplinary team members. It addresses human health in its physical, psychological, and emotional dimensions and offers a holistic approach.” She spoke.
“Physical activity is reported as an important strategy during the coronavirus crisis”
Occupational Therapist Uğur Arslan, a 2020 graduate of Üsküdar University's Occupational Therapy department, made evaluations regarding research on physical activity during Covid-19 and related occupational therapies. Arslan said, “As we know, we are going through a challenging pandemic period, and important duties fall to us, just as they do to every healthcare worker. Physical activity is reported as an important strategy during the coronavirus crisis. Physically more active people are observed to have better mood, cognitive status, and coping methods for stress. Despite being such an important method, there was a decrease in physical activities during the pandemic. This led to the negative effects of prolonged physical inactivity. As a precaution, in addition to physical activities, it is necessary to pay attention to nutrition, and we need to maintain our psychological well-being by meeting with friends online.” He said.
“Parents are the most important actors in a child's therapy”
Floortime Therapist and Audiologist Büşra Özkan talked about the relationship-based therapy method applied to children with autism. Özkan stated, “Understanding where the child is developmentally is important for planning the treatment program. We have 6 functional emotional developmental stages. These stages represent the developmental capacities children learn as they grow intellectually and emotionally. Parents are the most important actors in a child's therapy. The parent-child relationship is vital for identifying a child's developmental deficiencies.” She spoke.
“How can we improve our quality of life during the pandemic?”
Occupational Therapist Veysel Özkök touched upon occupational therapy interventions aimed at increasing our quality of life within the 'there is life at home' format. Özkök stated, “How can we improve our quality of life during the pandemic? We can do this primarily by starting the day early. Waking up at the same time we used to wake up before the pandemic for work or school helps us return to our old routine by recalling the processes of adaptation, simulation, and balancing that our cognitive structure had established before the pandemic, within a schema. Consuming amino acids to prevent stress-induced damage affecting mood in nutrition shows an extra state of well-being in a person's biological and cognitive health. Exercising, while complementing us physically, acquiring hobbies, interacting with the right people, taking notes, stopping procrastination, and setting goals are also efforts to increase our quality of life.” He said.
Don't think of spending quality time with children as sacrificing other things…
Child development specialist Gamze Yardım talked about activity suggestions that will strengthen children's communication with family members during the pandemic. Yardım stated, “No matter your child's age, the key to having healthy conversations with them is to remember that they are individuals. Correcting and restricting them while talking, in addition to understanding the value of focused and positive attention for your children, develops insincere and complaining attention and does not meet their need for love. Children understand how you feel about them through your behaviors in your communication. The only important thing is to remember that the behavioral forms of love are simply physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and positive words. Shared time is the most beautiful form of undivided and focused attention; as your child grows, the process of spending quality time with them will also differentiate. Don't think of spending quality time with children as sacrificing other things; on the contrary, sharing your time together will help develop sincerity in your communication and a sense of responsibility for both parties.”