Each year, National School Backpack Awareness Day takes place on the third Wednesday of September. Backpack Day is a great opportunity to showcase occupational therapy services in your community. In the past, AOTA has encouraged members to host backpack weighing events at local schools. This year, however, we'd like to broaden the event and activities to include "packs" throughout the lifespan - from school backpacks to purses to briefcases to hiking packs to suitcases to combat gear. After all, occupational therapy practitioners help individuals of all ages live life to its fullest!
But, we need your help! As you're probably aware, AOTA creates a new tip sheet each year for members to share with the public and local media. So, please share with us your ergonomic/OT advice regarding overweight and improperly worn:
It's easy - simply reply to this post! Stay tuned for more information, and thank you in advance for helping us make Backpack Day 2009 a successful event.
When I organized the backpack awareness day at my children's school in 2006, I put this together as a handout for Moms on carrying purses. Especially since some of the my volunteers were carrying heavy purses.
Tips for Carrying Purses
Women often suffer back and shoulder pain from carrying purses which are too heavy and positioned so that all the weight is over one shoulder. Avoid pain from poor posture and muscle strain by following these suggestions:
What kind of purse should you carry?
· Purses with a long strap allow you to place the strap diagonally across to the opposite shoulder. This helps distribute the weight across the back. It also eliminates shoulder elevation on the purse side to reduce the likelihood of shoulder and neck pain. However, this carrying position will not help if the purse is too heavy.
· Choose a small purse for short errands. Use a back pack (worn over both shoulders, sized to fit you and your activities, preferably with a padded hip strap) for all day outings when you need to carry more. Consider using a pack that fits around the waist (“fanny pack”) for some outings.
· Avoid heavily loading tote-style bags which are worn over one shoulder.
· If you carry a purse with short handles, switch positions once in a while to avoid fatigue from muscle overuse—carry it by grasping it with your fingers, then carry it over your forearm, then switch hands.
How much are you carrying in your purse? Reduce the weight of your purse:
· Buy a smaller purse. If everything doesn’t fit, then you have to prioritize and leave some things out. Use a separate bag for some activities—your purse does not have to be your gym bag.
· Critically examine what items are in your purse. Are they really necessary? Can some items be left at home or in the car? How many pens or lipsticks do you need to carry in your purse? Regularly inspect your purse and remove items you don’t need.
· Instead of carrying two prescription pairs of eyeglasses, one dark and one regular, get one pair of glasses with lenses which darken when exposed to light, or use clip-on sun shades.
· Keep your sunglasses and glasses container in the car, and wear them as needed with a retaining cord, so when you take them off they hang around your neck instead of in your purse.
· Regularly empty your wallet of coins by leaving them home, in the car, or putting them in your pocket—you’ll be surprised how much weight they add as they multiply so quickly!
· How heavy is your key ring? Remove heavy ornaments from the key chain. Leave extra keys at home, or in the car. Separate the car key from the rest of the keys, and leave the bulk in the car when running errands. Have a locksmith change the locks of your residence so the same key opens all the doors.
· Buy a lighter weight, more compact cell phone. Or, clip your phone to your waistband.
· Ask your doctor for sample sizes of prescription medications.
· Ask your ophthalmologist or optometrist for sample sizes of eye drops. (An optometrist showed me I could pop the top off the sample-sized eye drop container, boil the container to sterilize it, and refill it.)
· Distribute Mommy’s load. Once the youngest in the family no longer uses a stroller, Mommy shouldn’t have to carry everyone’s snacks and water and extra clothes. Kids can carry their own small fanny packs—just the size for a .5 liter water bottle, chapstick and snacks—great for day hikes and trips to amusement parks or the zoo.
Does anyone have any tip sheets or fact sheets directed towards the post-secondary student? It seems relevant to do something on campus for the health-related students (AH, Med students), but everything seems child focused.
I found the purses, briefcase, suitcase sheets...
Thanks!
This is great! I am going to use these tip sheets and distribute it to the nurses I work with! We all carry around big totes with all our home health stuff in. Thanks for posting this.
Jane