OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Introduction:
With the 21st century fast approaching and healthcare dollars rapidly shrinking, the rehabilitation field has undergone many changes. These changes have caused the roles of different health care workers to blur and become confusing for the public to understand. To decrease the confusion, this web site is dedicated to help people understand Occupational Therapy.
What does an OT do in the Mental Health setting?
What's the difference between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Therapeutic Recreation? (TR)?
What does an OT do in the Physical Disability Setting?
What's the difference between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT)?
Can an OT help make homes, companies, and public places more accessible to people with a disability?
How much training do therapists undergo?
How do I find an Occupational Therapist?
Occupational Therapy has many definitions. In simple terms, its focus is to help people help themselves through occupation. "Occupation" simply refers to activities that people find enjoyable and meaningful. For example, occupations for children can include learning to read, playing in the sand, or mimicking mommy and daddy. For teenagers occupational tasks include going to school, making friends, or exploring job opportunities. Occupations for adults can range from building a career, finding a soul mate and/or raising a family.
Occupational Therapists (OT)s and their Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTA)s work in a variety of setting including, but not limited to hospitals, nursing homes, home health care agencies, rehabilitation facilities, schools and universities, community centers, sheltered workshops, prisons and homeless shelters, etc. In a hospital, nursing home, health care agency or rehabilitation facility, a therapist may adapt a patient?s home to help them adjust to the effects of a stroke, injury, amputation, burn, surgery, degenerative disease, or broken bones. Also, an OT/COTA may work with the hospital?s nurses within the neonatal unit to help foster the development of premature babies. Within the school system, therapists create environments for children who are learning and physically impaired to succeed in basic academics and playing with other children. A therapist working with a workman?s compensation insurance company will evaluate duties performed on the job and may either retrain the injured worker, or change the work area so that the worker can to return to the job. At a university, a therapist may train students or perform research to validate and measure the effectiveness of occupational therapy. In community centers, therapists may provide educational activities for patients to learn and spend their day in a supervised setting. Therapists may even work in sheltered workshops, prisons and homeless shelters. With OTs working in so many different places, it?s not surprising to see why some people don?t understand occupational therapy.
What does an OT do in the Mental Health setting?
The main focus of occupational therapy in the mental health setting is to prepare patients to live out in the community after discharge from a mental institution. This may be done by teaching patients independent living skills such as money management, pedestrian safety, meal preparation, telephone skills, health maintenance, safety awareness, time management and even leisure skills. Then after discharge, OTs may be a part of the support network to help people who suffer from mental illness.
What's the difference between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Therapeutic Recreation? (TR)?
According to the National Therapeutic Recreation Society (NTRS), therapeutic recreation is practiced in clinical, residential, and community settings. The profession of therapeutic recreation uses treatment, education, and recreation services to help people with illnesses, disabilities, and other conditions to develop and use their leisure in ways that enhance their health, independence, and well-being. Approved by the NTRS Board of Directors, February 4, 1994. The main difference between OT and TR is in the training and their primary focus. While both OT and TR have training to help mentally ill patients, OT has more medical training. The primary focus is also different: therapeutic recreation focuses primarily on the leisure aspect of their life to contribute to a healthier mind and body. Although OT also looks at leisure skills, OT has a stronger focus on learning independent living skills such as how to pay for items in a grocery store and count the change, how to follow directions on a recipe, or how to balance a schedule to be able to work and take care of the kids.
What does an OT do in the Physical Disability Setting?
Once a person is medically stable, occupational therapy will see if a person needs retraining in their "ADLs" (Activities of Daily Living). In other words, a therapist will see if a person can care for himself or herself. Can they dress, bathe, or eat? Does extreme pain or paralysis make activities difficult? If they can?t, an OT could show people how they can care for themselves even if they can?t use and arm or a leg through different techniques or equipment. Sometimes a therapist may make custom splints to help a person cope with pain such as a carpal tunnel splint to decrease wrist pain. After the person can care for himself or herself, a therapist would then see what other skills a patient may need to learn. Are they able to manage a home, care for their family, hold a job or earn an education?
It is important to note that a therapist?s responsibilities in the physical disability setting could be similar to a therapist in the mental health setting. In both places, a person might not be able to dress themselves for different reasons. In the mental health setting, if a person is not aware of the season, he/she may wear a thick jacket in the middle of the summer. In the physical disability setting, a patient may have experienced a stroke and may not be able to lift their arm to put on their shirt. In both cases, an OT or COTA could teach the patient how to dress.
What's the difference between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT)?
When in the clinic, it may be hard to tell the difference between the two therapists who may be working side by side. Some people split the body in half and state that PT works on the legs and OT works on the arms. That just isn't true. Both may treat the whole body. The major differences between OT and PT are in the philosophy, reasoning, and techniques behind the treatment. Let's use a case example: Marcia is a 60 year old female who recently suffered from a stroke that made her left half of her body paralyzed. After both OT and PT has evaluated Marcia, in the following window are examples of possible goals.
Some goals may apply to both OT and PT; however, the differences between the therapists are the reasons behind the goals. While both therapists may want to increase the strength and control of the upper body, the purpose of the goal in OT is to be able to complete self care and homemaking activities. The purpose of the same goal in PT would be to allow Marcia to move from her wheelchair to her couch by herself.
Can an OT help make homes, companies, and public places more accessible to people with a disability?
YES! Owners of homes and other places such as hotels, schools, churches, banquet facilities, vehicles, malls, parks, and restaurants that need to become wheel chair accessible can contact an OT for help . The therapist can then visit the home or job location and recommend changes and/or equipment/assistive technology to make the area more wheelchair friendly.
How much training do therapists undergo?
To become an occupational therapist, he/she must complete an education program approved by the Accredit ation Council for Occupational T he rapy E du cation (ACOTE). At this time, a therapist may earn a bachelor's degree, a post-baccalaureate certificate, or a professional master's degree. However, due to legislative changes made by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and future approval by ACOTE, most schools will change from a bachelor?s program to a master's degree by the year 2005. Some of the prerequisite classes include biology, psychology, and sociology. Most schools also require volunteer or paid work experience with persons with disabilities. If you are interested in earning a degree in Occupational Therapy, because the curriculum varies from school to school, you should contact the each individual school for prerequisite requirements. Once accepted into the OT program, most schools require Gross Anatomy, Kinesiology, Neuroanatomy, Psychosocial Occupational Theory, Human Development, Pathophysiology, etc. Although the classes may vary all programs however have at minimum of 6 months supervised clinical internships. After a therapist earns a degree, he/she must then pass the certification exam. After passing the exam, in order to work, the therapists must then apply for licensure in their own state.
To become an occupational therapy assistant (COTA), a person usually earns a two-year associate degree in which he/she also completes a supervised clinical internship. COTAs must also pass a certification exa m.
How do I find an Occupational Therapist?
To find a local therapist let your finger do the walking and look at the yellow pages. Or, call your nearest hospital, nursing home, home health care agency, rehabilitation facility, or school. You can also contact your health insurance to see which therapists are covered. For more information you can also contact the occupational therapy association for your state.
American Occupational Therapy Association: AOTA
American Occupational Therapy Foundation: AOTF
Internet Mental Health: Sharing information on Mental Disorders, Treatment & Research
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill: The nation's voice on Mental Illness
AOTA's alphabetized listing of national health organizations' addresses
Alphabetized listing of common health problems.
The National Stroke Association (NSA) is trying to reduce the incidence and impact of stroke.
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