Occupation Therapy

As occupational therapy services diversified, serving a variety of clients in many different settings and with societal influences, the field began to evolve. During the 1990s occupational therapists began to shift away from reductionist medical model toward a more holistic client-centered approach. Services focused on enhancing individuals’ quality of life across the lifespan meaning before, during, and after therapeutic intervention. The profession began to better acknowledge the value of client education, injury and illness prevention, health screening, and health maintenance (Cole & Tufano, 2008). The field created more preventative initiatives, and focused services on improving quality of life and optimizing the independence of

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

Participation is an important piece in the field of occupational therapy. Given that different factors influence participation and when people have a choice in the activity, it increases participation, then the more someone actively participates in occupational therapy, the better their outcome of therapy will be. In her piece, Participation in the Occupations of Everyday Life, Mary Law focuses on this idea that participation in meaningful activity is key to effective occupational therapy. I may not be old and experienced but, I am old enough to be able to relate the information in this article to my life.

To be able to participate in one 's own life, to do the things we want to do, and to competently perform the activities that form part of our daily, weekly or monthly routines, is a common goal for most people.  This not only includes taking part in the basic activities of self-care, such as grooming and dressing, but also extends to our work and leisure activities.  It is through doing things that we learn and develop as human beings.  The occupational therapy profession believes that being prevented or hindered in some way from participating in the activities that are important to us could adversely affect our health and wellbeing.

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.

“What if there was a job that allowed someone to have endless flexibility and creativity; a profession that is respected and is in overwhelming demand... Most importantly, wouldn’t it be nice to find a job in which you could make an impact, big or small, on the lives of each individual person you worked with? I found this job and that is why I decided to pursue a degree in occupational therapy" (Springer, J., 2015). This testimonial comes from a practicing occupational therapist who has found value in his life's work. Occupational therapy is not a job where "one size fits all"; there are many different demographics of people who need occupational therapy in different environments. Although, all occupational therapists have the same skills

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.

It became very clear to me the role of Occupational Therapist in changing people’s mind about people with disabilities. There are many people with severe disabilities, however I feel as if, the society also chose to see what they can’t do and miss to see how capable they truly are. People often give up right away and most of the time hopelessness tend to takes over and blinds us from the possibilities of getting back into our feet and live the life we want. Julia Tavalaro’s story taught me that patience and persistence can a long way. Both occupational therapists on these short stories did not give up on helping their patients improve their daily lives. They work harder than their patients to find practical and realistic approaches to not only enhance the quality of their patients life, but also to boost self-worth and dignity. Reading success stories just like these fuels my desire to become occupational therapist. As a person who has so much love and passion for life, I want others to love theirs as

The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) is a theoretical framework used by occupational therapists to help guide practice (Cotton, 2012). Moreover, the MOHO’s framework helps form a picture of the client by utilizing 4 concepts’ that include the clients’ motivation for occupation, the routine patterning of their occupations, the nature of their skilled performance, and the influence of the environment on their occupation (Forsyth et al., 2009). These 4 concepts’ influence the formation of an occupational Identity which is a key construct within the MOHO (Forsyth et al., 2009). Furthermore, an occupational identity is the cumulative sense of the clients’ identity based on the occupations they engage in, their personal experiences and who they want to become as an occupational being (Forsyth et al., 2009). The formation of clients’ occupational identity is based on a sustained pattern of occupational engagement, which is called occupational competence (Forsyth et al., 2009; Walder & Molineux, 2017a).

Occupational therapists use client-centered and holistic approaches to address the prevention and concerns of obesity. They collaborate with the client to form meaningful and effective interventions to modify daily life habits, roles, and patterns that contribute to obesity (AOTA, 2013). The occupational therapist will also collaborate with the client to design goals and address any occupations that are affected due to obesity (AOTA, 2013). Occupational therapy will aim to increase physical activity, adapt physical activity, and educate children about good nutritional choices (AOTA, 2013). Interventions for obesity may focus on prevention, remediation/restoration, adaptation/compensation, and maintenance programs (AOTA, 2013). Occupational

A practitioner looking to maximize their career should define personal expectations and goals for the affiliation including the desired amount of supervision and style of supervision that would enhance attainment of goals and pair great with the individual’s learning style. Being able to independently seek and participate in opportunities for improving skills is a great way to advance in the field of occupational therapy. It is important during fieldwork to demonstrates consistent work behaviors including initiative, preparedness, and dependability. Every day of fieldwork should be given the best effort because this could potentially become a company that would want the OT practitioner as an employee. This requires the practitioner to consistently maintain professional behaviors in the workplace such as taking initiative, being prepared and dependable, and assuming a professional demeanor.

The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) is a breakdown of how a person engages in their daily activities from their disability or illness. It gives an occupational therapist a guide to understand and specify the client’s inadequacy of engagement. “The clients thinking, feeling, and doing are central to therapy and the model takes into account both mind and body. In MOHO the environment can demand and offer opportunities for occupational performance (Ramafikeng, 2009).” This model helps the therapist to find reasoning through their client`s behaviors and be able to promote health and recovery in their daily occupations. By looking into the client`s volition, habituation, and performance capacity this specifies the therapist of their client`s abilities and incapability’s they have while engaging in an occupation. Then analyzing what environmental contexts ables or disables the client`s behavior.

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.

Human behavior can be explained by a variety of biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors interacting on a person over time. The values, beliefs, and goals that determine the behaviors one engages in are developed through cognitive processes unique to each individual as a result of the interplay between previous learning and the aforementioned factors. When considered together, the Model of Human Occupation and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy give an explanation for this view of human behavior. These frames of reference are reviewed in regards to their conceptions of behavior, dysfunction, treatment approach, and their relevance to occupational therapy.