Alita Borkar, MA, OTR/L, CPAM, FOX Rehabilitation occupational therapist, and Maryland Ambassador for the American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC) talks about the importance of advocating for the occupational therapy profession with local and state policymakers. Alita takes us through the successes she’s had in her advocacy work and gives advice to younger clinicians who may want to do the same. Do you need to know a lot about politics to advocate? Is a strong passion for occupational therapy enough to help create change? Find out these answers, as well as what Alita is doing to celebrate OT Month!

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Advocating for Occupational Therapy (S2, E2)

Live Better Longer: the podcast for clinicians made by clinicians. It’s brought to you by FOX Rehabilitation. Find out more at foxrehab.org. The purpose of our show is to have professional conversations about PT, OT, and SLP for older adults. (Tim Fox, PT, DPT, GCS-Emeritus, CCI | License #40QA00702100 | 7 Carnegie Plaza Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 | 877-407-3422)

Health & Fitness

On this week’s episode of FOX Rehabilitation’s Live Better Longer podcast, we keep the National Speech-Language-Hearing Month celebration going by letting our speech-language pathologists take over the show. Maureen Colket, MA, CCC-SLP, leads the charge, as she chats with fellow FOX clinicians Steph DeMello, SLP, and Shannon Stocks, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS. The three talk about how they educate patients, caregivers, and the public at large about speech-language pathology. They then dig into the many myths of what it actually means to be an SLP, and how some people are surprised that it goes far beyond just verbal rehabilitation. Megan, Steph, and Shannon close out the episode by revealing their favorite patient wins, what they might do if they weren’t an SLP, and partaking in a round of our now famous—or infamous—Acronym Challenge.

National Speech-Language-Hearing Month

This week on FOX Rehabilitation’s Live Better Longer podcast, we speak with Alan Fairbanks, President of the Value-Based Care Alliance at Serviam Care Network. In the wake of COVID, Alan explains what led to the creation of Serviam and how older adults can benefit from a more proactive approach to healthcare, which has been a philosophy of FOX since our inception in 1998. Alan takes us through the process of how a senior living community can team up with Serviam and tap into their extensive system of resources, technology, and contacts. As the old way of doing things reveals its shortcomings, Alan lays out why the future of healthcare should focus its attention on Value-Based Care, which is transforming how we care for older adults.

Value-Based Care

In recognition of Stroke Awareness Month and Survive Stroke Week, this week's guest on FOX Rehabilitation's Live Better Longer podcast is distinguished neuroradiologist, Mahesh Jayaraman, MD, FACR, who explains the importance of acting quickly whenever someone experiences a sign of having a stroke, which could include a loss of balance, blurry vision, a drooping of one's face, arm weakness, or speech difficulty. Dr. Jayaraman talks about what first got him interested in studying the brain and how he became an advocate for stroke education. Likening them to a top-notch NASCAR pit crew, Dr. Jayaraman also discusses how a team of medical professionals jump into action after receiving a 911 call for someone who is thought to be having a stroke. Listen to this week's episode and learn what you need to do if you or someone you know is showing any symptoms of a stroke.

Stroke Awareness

To kick off National Speech-Language-Hearing Month, we speak with FOX Rehabilitation’s Senior Clinical Director of Quality Assurance Professional Development or QAPD, Jonross Neptune, MS, CCC-SLP. He takes us through his personal history of being a speech-language pathologist, what inspired him to work with older adults, and what led him to pursue leadership opportunities with FOX. Jonross tells us about one his favorite patient Success Stories, which illustrates his amazing ability to always empathize and connect with others, whether they are patients, caregivers, or colleagues. We close out the episode by talking about the newly named “National Speech-Language-Hearing" and what Jonross will be doing to celebrate.

Why SLP?

This week’s episode of FOX Rehabilitation’s Live Better Longer podcast features FOX’s Noah Pennypacker, OTD, OTR/L, ATC, who talks about older adult patients who have been diagnosed with “low vision.” He discusses how to treat someone with macular degeneration, a disease that affects a person’s central vision, and explains the importance of clinicians, patients, and caregivers leaning into technology. Noah also shares an incredible story about a patient who was able to rekindle a passion she thought was lost forever. If you’re in search of tips to help your patients with low vision, Noah delivers a bunch in this episode. We close out this week with another round of “The Acronym Challenge,” which Noah was brave enough to take. How will he do? Listen to find out!

Advocating for Occupational Therapy (S2, E2)

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