My Current Role As An Program

The occupational therapy profession shares many objectives across the communities, clients, and families they serve. Some of these aims include: “Developing the field of occupational therapy and enhance the professions capabilities to meet the needs of the entire population, providing evidence on the efficacy of occupational therapy. This includes working with organizations and local communities, incorporating education, research, and practices as a complete whole. In addition, developing a team of professionals that innovates and adapts to the developing health needs of the population” (AOTA, 2013). This includes advocacy efforts with policymakers to ensure continued funding to provide care to individuals (AOTA, 2013). Occupational therapy is a distinctive profession that helps

The patients that I've been fortunate enough to deal with have all generally been able to get a handle on the idea that through Occupation Therapy sessions there is always a possibility for growth, change, Improvement, and development. In other words, the condition they are in now is not the condition they will be ‘sentenced’ to for the rest of their lives. Occupational therapy is about changing, improving, and offering a way forward with their ability to care for themselves and achieve some measure of independence beyond what they may be enduring at the moment. The psychosocial factors that can inhibit this growth can be categorized as their ‘old way of doing things’ versus the necessity of abandoned the old ways and developing new ways In order to function and even thrive. Stroke patients, in my experience in this rotation, have by far the most difficult time simply because the stroke couples a high level of disability with a high level of uncertainty. It is important to note, however, that a stroke victim may, with early and effective treatment, have a high level of recovery potential as well. The psychosocial factors that a person has previously defined themselves by may change, but

Occupational therapy assistant is my dream career. They help people live a normal life again without any assistance of other people. The help people enhance, improve, develop, and recover the skills use for working or doing daily average tasks. OTA’s usually work under the direction of occupational therapists, and they still get involved with providing therapy for patients. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, occupational therapy assistants help patients do therapeutic activities. For example, they help patients to stretch or do other exercises. OTA’s also help children who have developmental disabilities to play activities that helps stimulate coordination and learn to socialize. They teach disable people to use special equipment,

As an Occupational Therapy Assistant, I will work alongside an Occupational Therapist and work directly with patients. The difference between an OT and an OTA is that OT’s set up treatment plans and perform medical assessments while OTA’s carry out the treatment plans with the patients. In volunteering at rehab clinics, I’ve learned that Occupational Therapists often spend much of their time dealing with paperwork while OTA’s are performing more hands on work with people. Their day includes helping patients in performing rehabilitative exercises within a treatment plan. Occupational Therapy Assistants help people to regain their ability to perform activities of daily living, or ADL’s. These are the core aspects which

My personal experience with Occupational therapy is watching my grandpa go through it; he had fallen in a parking lot and had sustained a traumatic brain injury. He had surgery but then had a long road of recovery ahead of him. He had gone from not being able to get out of a chair to being able to hold a toothbrush and brushing his teeth again over a few months. I would go visit him and would watch the occupational therapists work with him so he could gain some of his independence back. They would help show him tools to make things like putting on his socks easier for him. Once he was home he still needed to do exercises like walking, so I would put the gait belt on him and walk with him so he would not get hurt again. He also developed Parkinson’s and dementia so there were times that he struggled with understanding what to do so I have also had experience working with the mental aspect. Working with him and watching him recover is such a great and rewarding feeling and I want to experience that with my career. I know becoming an Occupational Therapist Assistant is what I am meant to

The outcome of occupational therapy intervention is “supporting health and participation in life through engagement in occupation.’’ The types of occupational therapy interventions include occupation based intervention, purposeful activity and preparatory methods, consultation, education, and advocacy. Intervention approaches are the strategies that direct the process of intervention and these include create/promote, establish/restore, maintain, modify, and prevent disability.

Occupational therapists work with clients to restore independence that has been lost or disrupted due to illness, injury, or disease. Occupational therapy practice involves assessing and determining an appropriate treatment approach based on the client’s disability and individual needs. There are various occupation-based models, each client-centered and grounded in theory, that guide the clinical treatment process. In addition, the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (3rd ed.; AOTA, 2014) denotes various frames of reference to guide therapists when choosing specific intervention strategies based on the client’s needs (Cole & Tufano, 2018). This paper focuses on the application of the Occupation Adaption model,

Occupational therapy was founded on the principle that participation in meaningful activity is important to the health of individuals. Mental health is very important to the well-being of an individual and those around them. 450 million people experience mental and neurological disorders around the world. These disorders are the leading 5-10 causes of disability worldwide. As services for individuals with mental illness have shifted from the hospital to the community, there has also been a shift in the philosophy of service delivery. In the past, there was an adherence to the medical model; now the focus is on incorporating the recovery model. (2) Occupational therapy’s focus that taking part in engaging and meaningful activities benefits the mental well-being of the individual.

Children with many different disabilities need the intervention of an occupational therapist; therefore, occupational therapists work in the school systems. Elderly people often begin to lose their physical ability to do certain tasks, so there are occupational therapists working in nursing homes or providing in home care. Many athletes suffer sports injuries that cause them to lose their ability to do daily activities, and occupational therapists are available to them in rehabilitation centers and hospitals. These are just a few of the many scenarios where occupational therapists are available; they can also work in orthopedic centers, colleges, mental health settings, and drug and alcohol settings (Hoffman & Harris, 2000, p. 405). Due to the fact that occupational therapists can often specialize to a certain type of patient, it may be helpful to hold a job in college where one could learn how to work with that group of people. For instance, if a prospective occupational therapy student wants to work in a preschool for students with special needs after they graduate then it may be beneficial to hold a job as an assistant preschool teacher. Similarly, if the goal of an occupational therapy student is to provide their service to elderly people then training and working as a CNA would provide both useful experience and medial

Lives are changed everyday by occupational therapy assistants. I have the dedication, compassion, and ability to celebrate every miniscule improvement needed to become a successful OTA. This a quickly growing field where I can use the talents I already possess to excel. I can easily recall the differences made in my papaw’s life through occupational therapy and the way every advancement in mobility or independence was as exciting as it would be with a new

Occupational therapy is much more than enhancing activities of daily living to me. I see occupational therapy as helping people achieve daily freedom and making attainable goals to improve their physical and mental health while providing a professional relationship to encourage trust and reliability throughout treatment. Something as simple as tying shoes or being able to grab a fork to eat can make all the difference in the world to the patients an occupational therapist will treat. I have been working at a hand clinic since September and have seen that the small achievements like the tying of the shoes of the ability to bend the finger 10 more degrees puts a big smile on the faces of the patients and improves their outlook and demeanor towards their injury. Encouraging home exercise, helping with self cares, teaching writing skills and helping provide custom splints are all aspects that I have seen with my job and observation of occupational therapy as a whole. When I started my job at the hand clinic a therapist told me that the most basic occupational therapy explanation she could provide me is that occupational therapy is a way of helping others achieve a better level of daily living for things that they want and or need to do in life than when they sought help from therapy.

Occupational therapy is a profession that is currently growing faster than anyone would have expected. Because of the increase in demands for occupational therapy services, therapists are having larger caseloads, needing the help of more occupational therapists. Occupational therapy in the mental health setting is one environment that has grown in popularity over the last decade. Knowing the benefits of occupational therapy in this setting, and the expansion of clients needing occupational therapy services, more funding needs to be established in this setting.

Keeping a patient motivated, active, and engaged in the process is always important “it’s our foundation of Occupational Therapy Practice”. I would be extremely pleased to see my patients happy, smiling and slowly improving over time. I want to be there for them and help them as much as I know I can. I want to be a person who changes a life. My goal is to see my patients being able to regain abilities once again, for them not to give up and for them to show me that in the end it was worth it and I made someone regain

In accordance with Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF), “the efforts directed toward promoting occupational justice and empowering clients to seek and obtain resources to fully participate in their daily life occupations.” (Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 3rd Ed., p. S41). I consider occupational therapy to be a compassionate career, practitioners try to grant their clients’ wants and needs to better suit the

Occupational therapy has been in the process of continued development since the 1900’s. With several contributors helping to build the groundwork for creating the awareness needed to bring occupational therapy into the field of health care. Continued research is contributing to the ongoing significance of how occupational therapy is a vital aspect in promoting increased independences in all aspects of healthcare. (Willard, Schell, 2014) With the incorporation of “Occupational Therapy Practice Framework Domain and Process (3rd ed.)” helps creates the foundation for occupational therapy clinicians as well as other health care providers in facilitating the core believe of occupational and the relationship of health and occupation. (AOTA 2014) Therefore, providing a uniform outline of the various aspects of each individual and how they are interconnected to create the foundation of each individual. With a greater understanding of the foundations of that induvial, the clinician can then facilitate the best therapeutic treatment plan for that individual to achieve their personal goals with unified foundations of care.