Live Better Longer FOX Rehabilitation

This week on FOX Rehabilitation’s Live Better Longer podcast we welcome back Director of Lamp and Light Productions and stage actor, Matthew Moore, and his fellow cast mate and Lead Instructor of Boxland Academy, Krista Stauffer. Matt and Krista take us through their two-person play What I Didn’t Say: A Journey Through Parkinson’s, which—to shine a broader spotlight on Parkinson’s Awareness Month—will be performed in multiple cities in the next few weeks. Matt and Krista talk about how they met, the early workshopping of their play, and the incredible response they’ve received so far. Every performance is also followed by a talkback, where audience members are invited to ask questions and express opinions about the play with the actors, medical professionals, and individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. As someone with Parkinson’s, Matt expresses his hopes for what people take away from Parkinson’s Awareness month and explains how anyone else with the disease and their care partners can watch the play gratis. For those who want to help support What I Didn’t Say: A Journey Through Parkinson’s, you can donate via GoFundMe. 

Who better to celebrate OT Month with than Satvika Garg, Ph.D, PTR/L, Chief Scientific Officer of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, and Joan Toglia, Ph.D, FAOTA, distinguished educator and preeminent OT expert on functional cognition? In a seminar-worthy edition of FOX Rehabilitaion's Live Better Longer podcast, Dr. Garg explains the role of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, how they work in conjunction with the American Occupational Therapy Association, how resources are pulled together for funding, and how those actions are then turned into game-changing research that gets rolled out into everyday clinical practice. In addition, Dr. Toglia gives extraordinary insight into breakthroughs that have been made in the assessment of functional cognition and the importance of always treating and knowing each patient as an individual. Dr. Garg and Dr. Toglia answer some questions from FOX clinicians and let us know what they will be doing to celebrate Occupational Therapy Month. 

To celebrate the kickoff of Occupational Therapy Month, we decided to chat with FOX Rehabilitaion's Jaydra Smith, OTR/L, who discusses what initially got her interested in pursuing the discipline. As you’ll soon discover, it happened for her at a young age after an excited phone call from her great-grandfather. Jaydra began shadowing clinicians as far back as high school, and when she entered college, she hit the ground running. Like any great clinician will tell you, Jaydra’s first passion is having the skill and ability to change the lives of her patients, giving them back valuable function that they never thought they would see again. Jaydra talks about the importance of creativity in her profession, gives advice to anyone who wants to follow a similar career path, and ponders what she will do to celebrate OT Month. 

This week on FOX Rehabilitation’s Live Better Longer podcast we are joined by Yasmin Keats, Executive Director of Open Style Lab, a non-profit organization that is on a mission to make style accessible for everyone, regardless of cognitive and physical abilities. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, Open Style Lab started as a public service project following the tragic events of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and has since grown into a successful non-profit whose core fundamentals center around research, education, and informing the public about inclusive design and how it empowers people living with disabilities, bringing them joy, identity, and self-expression. Yasmin takes us through her journey of living with a disability and how it eventually led her to work with Open Style Lab. Yasmin also discusses Open Style Lab’s summer workshop which sees an interdisciplinary team of clinicians, engineers, designers, and people with disabilities working on functional fashion that is supportive and stylish for all. 

Abolishing ageism is not only the mission of FOX Rehabilitation, on this week’s episode of the Live Better Longer podcast, we discover that The Pacemakers are all about shattering aging stereotypes, too. We chat with the Founder and Artistic Director of The Pacemakers—the self-proclaimed “groovy senior citizens dance team”—that has been seen spreading joy at athletic events, workshops, street fairs, and most recently at Dr. Tim Fox’s Carole B. Lewis Lecture at CSM 2024. Susan explains how she transitioned from journalist to dance team leader and how she turned a bout of cyberbullying into the spark that created The Pacemakers. Susan gives us the lowdown on what it takes to be part of this elite squad (who range in age from 60-85 years old), how they have inspired others to keep shaking their groove thing, and their plans for 2024 and beyond. If you listen to one podcast this week, you’d be foolish not to listen to the origin story of the greatest older adult dance team we’ve ever seen!

FOX Founder, Dr. Tim Fox, often says that he wants to be seen riding his dirt bike when he’s 100 years old. The point of his message is clear: age should not dictate your level of activity or prevent you from doing what you love. We think Dr. Fox would enjoy hanging out with this week’s Live Better Longer podcast guest, 81-year-old Howard “Abe” Abel, who continues to stay active by splitting and stacking wood. Reading that on paper may raise some eyebrows, but after seeing the results—and realizing that the quality of his work probably can’t be matched by someone three times his junior—what someone might think is impossible is just another afternoon of work for Abe, who chops away at ageism one log at a time. Find out what keeps this 81-year-old Paul Bunyan going and how long he plans on continuing to wield his chainsaw.