There are things that my husband can do and things that are just outside his ability zone. For example, he used to cook and enjoyed preparing dinners for us. When his tremors became too intense for it to be safe, he decided to give it up.  He does still prepare his own breakfast, but that only involves a toaster or a microwave and I am always close if he needs assistance. What if, instead of giving up completely, we had done an activity analysis to see which parts of preparing a meal he could still do and where he needed support?

I am borrowing this concept of doing an activity analysis from the world of Occupational Therapists. They regularly analyze tasks to help their clients figure out how to manage life’s challenges and live independently. Their analysis takes a deep look at the what needs to be done, breaking it down into smaller chunks and evaluating brain and body functions needed for success. Obviously, we would not need to dig so deep to figure out what it would take for my husband to cook a meal. We just need to identify the basic steps so we can figure out where he might need to modify the process and where he might need help.

Why am I looking into this now? As my husband’s illness progresses, his capabilities are going to decline. A technique like this will allow us to analyze exactly where his difficulties are and modify activities so that he can do them for himself. We can start by deciding together on something he wants to accomplish, then writing out a simple list of the steps it takes to complete it. Looking at each step honestly helps us see if it is something he can do or if it needs adaptation to meet his skill set. We can look at where I might need to step in and help, but only as a last resort. My goal is to allow him more independence and lighten my load by giving back some activities and expanding his capacity. (and maybe get a good dinner out of him again sometimes!)