July 31, 2024
“Many healthcare providers are experiencing burnout or musculoskeletal issues, resulting in those providers leaving the profession early in their careers,” said Jamesdean Visley, OTD, associate professor and academic fieldwork coordinator for Trine University’s new Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program.
To help its members focus on wellness and resiliency and improve career longevity, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) recently partnered with the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) to provide awareness of these burnout and musculoskeletal issues.
Dr. Visley was part of a four-member team hand-selected by AOTA to represent the profession as leading experts in the field of occupational therapy at the ASCRS annual meeting, held June 1-4 in Baltimore.
‘Surgeonomics’
The AOTA group maintained a booth, titled “Surgeonomics,” outfitted with four workstations simulating traditional laparoscopies, traditional endoscopies, standard desk and office setups, and surgeries utilizing robotic equipment, specifically the DaVinci 4 robot. These simulation stations allowed Dr. Visley and other team members to collaborate with the physicians to provide recommendations for ergonomics and improved well-being.
Dr. Visley stated, “This was a great opportunity to give back to the medical community while promoting awareness of the field of occupational therapy.”
“Vendors of the equipment being used in the OR loaned us their equipment at the booth, so the simulations were as realistic as possible,” he said.
Dr. Visley said the AOTA group consulted with about 150-200 surgeons throughout the conference.
Surgeons informed the occupational therapists of where they were having pain, which was often in their neck, back or hands, and were also encouraged to describe any issues related to mental health and wellness, such as burnout.
“We had the physicians simulate their working positions to better understand the challenges they were facing with proper ergonomics. This interaction opened the door for better understanding of the challenges these healthcare providers face daily and allowed us to offer suggestions to improve their quality of life,” Dr. Visley said.
The occupational therapists also surveyed visitors to begin compiling a needs assessment.
“We wanted to advocate for OT’s role and value in this realm of work and aimed to mobilize our workforce to boldly step out and become more active in their health systems in areas relating to resiliency, workplace ergonomics and overall health and wellness for workers,” Dr. Visley said. “The survey will inform us of the surgeons’ understanding of the OT profession, and give us information to shape future conference visits, allowing us to ensure we’re bringing the most effective resources and offering the most efficient methods of consultation for conference attendees.”
Continued partnership
ASCRS has already extended an invitation to AOTA to participate in its conference in San Antonio next year.
“They are offering us an even larger booth space along with other resources we request to have handy at the Surgeonomics booth,” Dr. Visley said. “In the meantime, our team will continue to meet to compile the needs assessment based on the survey data, write an article, electronically disseminate resources we’ve created to attendees, and begin to prepare resources and a plan for the conference next year. We are hoping to plan a yoga/exercise, kinesiotaping and stretching area for the booth next year to demonstrate these various principles for attendees in-person. We also plan to prepare a workshop or presentation for attendees next year.”
“ASCRS was very welcoming and strongly advocated for their attendees to visit our booth,” he said. “The profession is ultimately concerned about the longevity of surgeons’ careers.”
Dr. Visley shared that AOTA and this team of occupational therapists is incredibly excited about future opportunities and collaboration with ASCRS.
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