Close

Tag Archive for: solutions for living

by

Closet Organization Solutions

With the arrival of spring it’s time to reorganize your closet for the warmer months ahead.  When season’s change it’s the opportune time to prepare for the change in weather by taking stock of what you have, purchasing any items you need, donating any items you no longer wear, and reorganizing so the clothing you need is accessible to you.

Use our printable Seasonal Clothing Inventory Worksheet to help you ensure you have all the items you will need for the changing seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For additional helpful tools please visit our Printable Resources Page.

by

Take Heart– OT’s Provide Solutions for Living with Heart Disease

February is Heart Month and while many of our blog posts will focus on prevention through good health habits, we want to also provide you with some tips for recovery.

Heart disease has a major impact on an individual’s quality of life. It can lead to discomfort or chronic pain, activity limitations, disability and unemployment. “An estimated 345,000 Canadians aged 35 to 64 reported living with heart disease. More than a third (36%) of these reported needing help with household tasks or personal care” (Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 1999). Heart disease requires lifestyle changes to prevent progression of the disease, further cardiac events and activity restrictions.

An occupational therapist, in conjunction with other team members, will help you determine what activities you can safely perform and how to modify activities to decrease the amount of energy required.  Learn more about the solutions an Occupational Therapist can provide in the following infographic.

by

The Ultimate Weekly Meal Planner

When it comes to eating well, taking time to plan your meals is the number one way to ensure you eat healthy.  It prevents reactive eating, saves time, money and ensures you eat a healthier diet.

Each Saturday or Sunday take time to plan your menu for the week ahead and shop accordingly.  Doing so will save those extra trips to the grocery store or drive-thru which cost you time and money.

Use our FREE printable Weekly Meal Planner to help!  Simply print and fill out each week.

Weekly Meal PlannerFor more helpful tools visit our Printable Resources page.

by

Goal Planning Barriers and Facilitators

Now that you’ve set goals for the year ahead using our SMART Goal Planning worksheet, let’s delve deeper into how to achieve these goals by looking at barriers and facilitators towards success.  While a barrier is something that may stand in the way of you achieving your goal, such as time or budget constraints, a facilitator is something that can help you, such as a helpful friend or professional.

Considering the goals you’ve set take time to look at the barriers and how you will overcome these and the facilitators you can utilized to help you reach your goal using our printable worksheets.

barriers-goal-planning

 

facilitators-goal-planning

 

If you’re looking for more helpful tools, be sure to visit our Printable Resources page. 

by

Goal Planning Guide

To assist you with your goal and resolution planning for the year ahead we present the SMART Goal Planner.  In our previous post, The Complete Guide to New Year’s Resolution Success, we discussed the need to create a SMART goal.  Which means a goal should be:

SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) goal setting concept presented on blackboard with colorful crumpled sticky notes and white chalk handwriting

Use this printable worksheet to help you create and achieve your SMART goals in 2017!

smart-goal-planning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more helpful tools for both Children and Adults visit our Printable Resources Page.

by

The Complete Guide to New Year’s Resolution Success

For many of us, this is when we take time to reflect on the previous year, and set Resolutions or Goals for the year ahead. However, significant research highlights that many people who set resolutions for the year end up abandoning these before the end of January.

Why does this happen and how can you ensure the positive changes you wish to make come to fruition?

Follow our guide to help you create resolutions you can achieve and start you on your best year yet!

 

by

Beating the Holiday Blues: The Top 5 Things to Consider when Giving Back This Holiday Season

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

Tis the season for me to carefully balance my dislike for the Holiday season with my desire to not bring those around me down with my “baa-hum-bug” attitude.  My hate-on for Christmas started in my late 20’s probably around the time I had four kids under age 5 and through some lack of communication among my family, my kids had like 15 presents to unwrap EACH.  No, I am not complaining that my kids have access to such “abundance” by some very loving and well-meaning people, but with this display of affection comes a parent’s concern that their child will love Christmas because of the stuff.  And the more stuff they get, the more they want.  The more they want, the more they miss the point on the difference between want and need and the more they expect the “bar” to be raised with each passing year.

So, in my search to not pass on my “hate-on for the holidays” gene to my children, I landed on charity and acts of service to balance the fact that they, like most of their friends, live in abundance but still need to be mindful and grateful that they get a lot of what they want, while “needing” nothing.  After all, most of us can give something and there are so many options for this.  This new approach has been helping me to beat the Holiday Blues for the last few years.  It helps me to slow down, reflect, and be mindful and grateful for the things I have and can provide others, and for the pleasures of my own life. 

But in stepping out and getting my girls involved in local charities over the holidays, I have realized that there is an art to “giving” that can have the most impact.

Here are my Top 5 Things to Consider when Giving Back This Holiday Season:

Donate Money – good and responsible charities are appreciative of every dollar.  From the Salvation Army Bell Ringers to putting in a payment online or in the mail.  Money does help.  Search online with your kids to find a charity close to your heart, and have every member of the family donate.

Donate Items – some charities collect food, clothing, toys, or housewares to provide to those in need.  Time to purge those things you don’t need or use.  But before you donate items, ASK the charity what they need and HOW they want the items provided.  If they want new toys, these need to be packaged and un-used.  If they want them unwrapped then don’t take the time to wrap them – it only adds cost and time for you, and cost and time for the charity to unwrap the item before distributing.  Also, ASK what age groups they have a hard time providing for.  I was volunteering at the Good Shepherd recently and they had an abundance of items for small children, but very few for teens.  If you ask them, they will tell you the age categories they struggle to provide for.  Lastly, be sensitive.  If the charity is serving refugees or people immigrating from war-torn countries, toys that involve violence or war (i.e. guns or tanks) might not be appropriate and will need to be screened out by the charity before providing it to the recipient, again adding time and administration during a busy season.

Purchase Charity Goods – some charities sell “goods” that provide an item with a donation.  World Wildlife Federation sells small stuffed animals to represent an “endangered species” and most of the cost of the animal goes to the charity.  So, for $40.00 my child gets an “endangered stuffie” with a certificate about the animal they have adopted, and the charity gets $32.00 as a donation to their cause.  This is also true of other charities that aim to sell farm animals or agriculture supplies that are provided to third world countries.

Support Events – many charities offer dinners, auctions, or other seasonal events to raise money.  This is a great way to donate while engaging in an “experience” with a friend, partner or as a family.

Donate Time – sometimes donating your time reaps the best reward for you and the charity.  Not only does it provide you with an opportunity to see how the organization operates and allow you to be “hands on” in making a difference, it saves the charity from needing to fund staffing to manage the busy holiday season.  I have been at the Good Shepherd three times this month doing anything from sorting clothing donations, food donations, stocking housewares on the shelves in their store, and sorting toys for their Christmas hampers.  There are many organizations that just need some extra hands during the holiday season and sometimes our time is our most impactful gift.

Today on our blog we begin our annual tradition of giving back to our readers with the 12 Days of Inspiration.  We hope you find these uplifting stories a source of inspiration and hope this Holiday Season.  

by

OT Approved Gifts For Fun and Function

If you’re a keen and organized shopper, I’m sure you have the majority of your holiday gifts already purchased, and if you’re anything like my Mother had everything done and wrapped in August! However, if you’re anything like my husband, you are waiting until the 24th to think about Christmas.

Although Santa and his Elves are hard at work building the toys your children put on their Christmas wish list, there may be a few items you still need to purchase.

We consulted our talented team of Pediatric Occupational Therapists and are happy to provide you with some fun but functional gift inspiration. These are gifts that are educational and stimulate child development:

ot-approved-christmas-gifts