cOnnecT with Patti Erlendson

Why did you choose OT as a career?

Originally I wanted to be a math teacher, but when I met my high school counselor, he talked about other options including becoming a dentist or a physician. Then he suggested nursing or physiotherapy. I was hardly a physiotherapy type, but at the bottom of the little pamphlet was a description of the occupational therapy school, and I thought that sounded interesting. So I contacted Scarborough General Hospital because that was near where I lived, and spent a day shadowing the OT on a mental health unit. I loved it, and that was it! Done! And I never worked in mental health, which is the weird thing.

What has been your most interesting job?

The job I loved best was when I was a clinical supervisor at Holy Family Hospital. I liked it because I worked part time clinically, and I did staff support supervision part time, so I was teaching, mentoring, and coaching. I got called into the super interesting cases or when the OTs were struggling with what to do and I felt I had my hands in both areas that I quite liked. It was always interesting and enjoyable.

My last job was one of the most interesting in that I got to meet so many different OTs working in so many different settings. I was really dealing with differences in cultural overlays. I was trying to figure out why things were set up a certain way, or why the role of OT was defined in a certain way, or why they don’t have any equipment, and then trying to work with the OTs on strategizing around changing profiles, or roles or getting access to better equipment. That was interesting because no day was ever the same, and no solution to a problem was ever the same.

What is most surprising about working as an OT?

How much resilience people have.  Even when they are faced with very difficult challenges with significant changes in the way they function and perform their occupations, they are still motivated to do their very best. They get up every morning with a glass half full. They will work with me, and share with me how they’re feeling, and how we can work together to improve their quality of life and get them back to occupations that are important to them.

What do you find most challenging about working as an OT?

Dealing with people. I was really lucky early on in my career to learn about client centeredness.  I was working in people’s homes, and in that scenario you’re really lucky to have people let you in and listen to you. I learned to become very aware of listening to clients and being careful about what I suggested and the goals we set. They may not have been the goals that I would have set, but they were important for these individuals, and that was a challenge for me. Because I went in with my agenda and was surprised at times by what clients wanted. I always talk about this one individual that I worked with. I was called in because his wife was completely fatigued because he couldn’t put his shoes and socks on. There was something unusual about the presentation. I came being the good OT with my long handled shoehorn and little boot thing in case he had trouble positioning his shoe. And I didn’t understand why he couldn’t do it, he could get his pants on, his shirt on, and he could do his buttons. But then he said to me “ this is the only time my wife touches me.” So it allowed me to have a conversation with both of them and talk about things that they could do together and I think the outcome was good. He started putting on his shoes and she didn’t have to deal with that anymore and they negotiated they would go for a walk everyday, or do something together that would solidify their relationship as man and wife versus caregiver and patient. The experience really resonated with me.

What is your philosophy on volunteering and giving back to the profession?

That everyone has something to offer, it might be experience, it might be little bits of time, it might be knowledge. I think we each have a responsibility to give what we are able to give. I really think it benefits me to be involved. It’s not just about me giving, giving, giving, I get from the experience as well. Over time, my involvement with different groups of people has changed. When my daughter was little I was more involved in her day care and nursery school. When I was involved with the nursery school I learned about their philosophy, and I established a lot of relationships with Moms that wouldn’t have been that easy to establish working and raising my daughter. When my daughter got older I was able to invest in things that were interesting to me. I am very interested in occupational therapy and promoting OT and moving the profession forward, so it’s just been a natural fit.  I always have something to say, and I always find a venue to say it in.

What would someone be surprised to know about you?

I like to say that I’m an open book, there’s nothing somebody doesn’t know about me. But something that most people won’t know is that when I was in my first year of OT school, I broke my back. It was a pretty significant fracture and I lost a year of school. The experience had a significant impact on my client centeredness, and I also realized there are a lot of flaws in the health care system. I learned to advocate for myself, and I learned about kindness. Nurses, doctors and health care professionals are very busy, but it doesn’t take much to be kind to someone who is very vulnerable. The people who touched my life the most are the people who were just kind. They acknowledged where I was at and what was going on for me that day, and it had a huge impact on how I interact with people. Just be kind!

What do you think will chance or shape practice in the next 5 years?

I think and hope we’re going to see more OTs in primary and preventative care and see less people in hospital. I would like to see more OTs in community providing outpatient services and in chronic care/disease management.

What do you do when you’re not working or volunteering?

I’m a bit of gym rat, I head to the gym quite often. I’m lucky enough to have two sisters who live here, so we spend time together. I love to read, mostly fiction. My husband I both scuba dive, and we love to hike and travel. I have a daughter who lives in London with my five year old granddaughter, so I try to get over there at least once a year. We love to travel together.

What are you most looking forward to about retirement?

Spending some time exploring leisure activities that I enjoy. I haven’t been swimming for a number of years, so I’m thinking of going back to that. I played the piano when I was quite young, and the year I broke my back when I was staring to ambulate I would stand to play. My father bought an electric piano that he doesn’t like, so I brought it home at Easter time, and it’s sitting in my bedroom. I’m going on a big road trip in the fall, this will be our first time travelling in the off season and I’m really looking forward to it. 

By Nicole Matichuk, fieldwork student with CAOT-BC.