By Kecia Coker, (OTD Cand.), MA, OTR/L, OTAC Communications Committee
Have you ever noticed the
presence or lack of community resources when you travel to a new place? Do you
also notice the presence or lack of universal design features that either
include or exclude people with disabilities?
If so, it’s probably because
being an occupational therapy (OT) practitioner is something you can’t turn off--even
on vacation! On a trip to Indonesia to
visit and support her son’s geo tourism business, Diane Mayfield, Ed.D., OTR/L
couldn’t help but notice numerous people living with disabilities that were
treatable or could be improved with the use of adaptive equipment. The
experience had such an impact on Dr. Mayfield that she returned to the United
States with a passion to volunteer her time and share her occupational therapy
expertise with the international community.
In 2006, Dr. Mayfield helped
to establish Access Life International Inc. (ALI), a non-profit organization.
ALI provides water purification systems and mobility aids such as wheelchairs,
walkers and ramps to communities in need.
The organization primarily assists those living in Bali, Indonesia, though
they hope to expand to additional developing countries in the future.
Here’s how it works: the ALI
organization trains and employs local Indonesian residents to assist people
with physical disabilities. ALI employees videotape interested participants with
disabilities in their living environments and send the videos to Dr. Mayfield and
her Australian OT colleagues to review. The OTs assess the occupational
limitations demonstrated in the video and then consult with ALI staff in
Indonesia to develop a plan. ALI staff then
builds, and/or delivers mobility aids and provides training on the use of these
aids to individuals and caretakers. The interventions delivered work to improve
the person’s mobility, function, and access to an improved quality of life.
Dr. Mayfield’s work
demonstrates the OTAC Vision in
action (adopted from the AOTA Centennial Vision), “We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful,
widely recognized, science-driven and evidence-based profession with a globally
connected and diverse workforce meeting society's occupational needs.” By
increasing public awareness of OT through volunteer work, she is also an OT
Leader that Shines!
Dr. Mayfield has particularly focused her leadership on
promoting OT through a globally- connected workforce and by meeting the occupational
needs of individuals in a developing country. In addition to providing
remote consultation services for ALI and fundraising on behalf of the
organization, Dr. Mayfield travels to Bali 2 weeks out of the year to provide
hands-on assistance with ALI’s operations.
In her role as Academic
Fieldwork Coordinator at California State University Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), Dr.
Mayfield has worked to establish international fieldwork placement sites. As a
classroom instructor, she regularly encourages OT students and graduates to volunteer
their expertise in the global community.
Dr. Mayfield says, “A successful person is a person that gives back and
volunteers.” Many CSUDH OT alumni have
responded to Dr. Mayfield’s encouragement and have become OT Leaders that Shine
through international volunteer work in countries such as Ghana, Ireland, and
Romania.
Dr. Mayfield describes
herself as, “an advocate for people with disabilities who are unable to speak
for themselves.” In addition to being an
advocate, she has also demonstrated the following leadership qualities along
her journey:
·
Passion for her work.
·
Persistence and determination when faced with
challenges.
·
Adaptability when things don’t go as
planned.
·
Respect for various cultural perspectives
when developing partnerships domestically and abroad.
If you too have found your passion in international
volunteer work, let us know!
For more information about
ALI or to learn how you can get involved, visit www.accessli.org. Additional
international and domestic volunteer opportunity websites can be found on this
blog. Click on the Volunteer Website Resources in the “pages” section and
connect to your inner OT Leader that Shines!
