Times-Journal Writer

Arlene Sewell, occupational therapy assistant

at Park Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, loves people, her work and her new home in Selma.

She tells the story of one of her patients years ago – a hair stylist who had to quit his profession due to major health problems. Not only did he suffer a stroke and heart attack, he developed a serious infection and had to have a leg amputated.

“Many people would have just given up and quit,” said Sewell.

“But he didn’t,” she said. “He got a prosthesis to replace the amputated leg, learned how to walk again, and then moved into a volunteer position with a nursing home where he would sit with elderly residents.”

“That’s what occupational therapy is all about – enabling a patient to reach his or her optimal functional level,” she said.

“I work with patients in retraining them for the functional activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, feeding themselves, cooking and personal hygiene.

“People need these services who have either

a cognitive or physical deficit due to such things as hip or knee injuries, stroke, dementia or work-related injuries,” she said.

“Progress is relative,” she added. “Even small progress for some patients can be the result of enormous effort while other patients, with the same effort, can achieve a much higher level of functionality.”

Sewell, who holds an associate degree from UAB, has been an occupational therapy assistant for the past 20 years. She moved to Selma from Tuscaloosa eight months ago.

She got interested in occupational therapy years ago while working in the nursing home setting and realized

the need for the kinds of services she now provides that were not then covered. Now Medicare and Medicaid cover both occupational and physical therapy

in nursing homes, she said.

Before moving to Selma, she had been working on the in-house staff of a Tuscaloosa nursing home. Now she’s employed by Aegis Therapies, a contractor for Park Place.

Over the years Sewell has worked in the fields of physical rehab, mental health and geriatrics.

At Park Place she is part of a three-member team that includes an occupational therapy assistant, a physical therapist and a speech therapist.

Right now the team is working with both long-term and 20-day stay patients but as soon as new equipment arrives, the department will be open for outpatient services

as well.

Sewell is high on Park Place. She’s especially impressed

with the electronic patient records system. “Park Place has a very advanced computer system. It’s very impressive,” she said.

Sewell also enjoys the residents and staff. “It’s a very welcoming place,” she said.

She also likes the slower pace in Selma, which is giving her much-needed time for reflection and meditation, she said.