Occupational Therapy: Improving A Person's Quality Of 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 focuses primarily on helping people in the things they want and need to do for everyday life through therapy. Occupational therapy is a diverse field that is a powerful, science-driven, and evidence-based profession. This career field requires friendliness, empathy, no judgement, knowledge, and assertiveness. Occupational therapists must also have good written, verbal, and nonverbal communication skills and critical thinking skills. It is a physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing job. Through providing individual therapeutic interventions, people are allowed to regain strength they previously had or have never had to create a more fulfilling life. In the field of Occupational Therapy, or OT, there is a shortage of

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.

An Occupational Therapist is a individual that can evaluate, develop, and help people regain and maintain daily living skills. Occupational Therapist work with people that have physical, mental and developmental conditions. The goal of the Therapist is to offer intervention that focus on teaching skills and helping the patient as well as the family on how to adapt and strengthen themselves so that they might be able to overcome physical obstacles. Occupational Therapist work with other health professionals in speech therapy, nursing, physical therapy and social work to ensure that the patients course of treatment aligns with the other areas.

Without occupational therapists, millions of people would struggle to live their everyday lives. Occupational therapists give specialized assistance to people with physical, developmental, social or emotional problems. This assistance is used to live productive and independent or semi independent lives. Occupational therapists can be used, and is effective for people of all ages. Many people have not heard of occupational therapy and are not aware of the positive impact it has on members of our society. With this paper I want to spread the knowledge that I have on occupational therapy. Many people that could benefit from occupational therapy do not even know that it exists. This career is difficult for everyone involved, but the impact it has

Occupational Therapy is a vital segment of the health care field. Individuals in this profession make a difference in the lives of others by helping their patients function effectively despite their disability, illness, or injury. They help by teaching patients many activities of daily living tasks which can include, grooming, toileting, dressing, eating, mobility, and much more! Along with the daily living tasks, Occupational Therapy helps individuals to be productive and successful in ways they want to be, like going school, taking care of others, managing their homes, preparing meals. Most importantly, they help their patients adapt to their environments and increase their independent function by helping them perform tasks with as little help from others as possible. Without Occupational Therapy, some patients with temporary disabilities could have a permanent disability. If individuals receive the Occupational treatments, they can prevent the loss of function.

The notion of occupational therapy has been around since the beginning of the 1900s. However, the Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy, now known as American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), did not hold their first meeting until 1917 (Willard & Spackman, 2014, p. 14). Occupational therapy has been a healthcare service for almost one hundred years, yet many individuals still struggle to truly comprehend what being an occupational therapist entails. The role of an occupational therapist is to provide a holistic approach to treat an individual based on the daily activities that provide meaning to them.

Each day clients engage in meaningful and purposive occupations that can be affected by a multitude of incidents that may either support or hinder a client’s ability to function. Traumatic injuries are just one example of incidents that may hinder a client’s occupational performance. Injury can often times lead clients to experience disruptions in their capacities to achieve full occupational performance. Clients who do experience diminished occupational performance can find support through an Occupational Therapist (OT). The OT will utilize a therapeutic decision making process to determine the most appropriate theory along with the client’s knowledge of his or her own needs and wishes to guide therapy. Employing and supporting the client as an advocate for their own needs can allow an OT to determine theories of practice that are best suited for the client’s return to wellbeing. An OT should first attempt to realize the needs and wishes of a client and once an understanding has evolved of what is meaningful to the client the therapist can assess performance skills and patterns that can be addressed by theories developed specifically for OT.

The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2010) has defined occupational therapy as a “client-centered health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation” (p.1). I have defined occupational therapy as a process in which a therapist and a client form a therapeutic relationship in order to increase participation in meaningful and functional occupations. An occupation is any action that increases quality of life, supports self-maintenance, and supplements work and leisure activities. The World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2012) states that the focus of practice is maintaining a balance of person, occupation, and their environment in order to facilitate occupational performance. I have reached a similar conclusion that the focus of occupational therapy is to facilitate synergy between the client and their environment. The result of this synergy will be occupational performance. Occupational therapists are keen to the needs of the client as they relate to completing occupations within a given environment utilizing the client’s capabilities.

Occupational therapy is designed to help patients regain skills related to activities of daily living. Individuals may require this therapy if, as the result of an illness or injury, they have

The entire profession of Occupational Therapy draws on the idea that occupation can be used to alter an individual 's mental and physical well-being. Occupational therapists use occupation as a tool to achieve this. Participation in occupation is believed to be a significant factor in providing a method for individuals to not only promote, but also maintain their health and well-being (Law, Steinwender and Leclair, 1998).

Dementia is a chronic syndrome that involves a progressive deterioration of brain function and leaves a person to suffer from not only a cognitive decline but physical, emotional, and behavioral changes as well. There are over ten different types of dementia and each cause significant changes in the make up of the brain and the brain function. Those changes include deposits of protein that form plaques, twisted strands of protein that form tangles, blood vessel blockages, fluid build up, and Thiamine deficiency. The two most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for an estimated 60 percent to 80 percent of cases, and

By 2030, the number of people who are 65 and older with dementia is expected to be 65.7 million and about 60% of people with dementia will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Edwards, 2015; Pankong, Pothiban, Sucamvang, & Khampolsiri, 2018). AD is an uncurable, progressive brain disease that can affect someone’s memory and ability to make decisions. (Edwards, 2015). Due to the progression of the disease, clients with AD or dementia rely on caregivers to help with everyday tasks, with about 85% of clients receiving care from caregivers that are family members (DiZazzo-Miller, Winston, Winkler, & Donovan, 2017). Occupational therapists (OTs) can help clients, no matter the diagnosis, because, within the guidelines set by the American

Children with CP may experience decreased sensation or a limited understanding of how the brain interprets what it sees. Occupational therapists may plan and implement sensory-perceptual-motor (SPM) training for children with CP who have sensory impairments so that they learn to take in, understand, plan and produce organized behavior. The SPM training improves the daily, functional abilities of people with CP. Occupational therapists may also use verbal instructions and supplementary visual input, such as visual cues, to help children with CP learn and carry out activities.

The aim of my research project was to find how to improve elderly people’s quality of life through occupational therapy (OT). I had chosen this topic because my elderly grandparents were undertaking the acquisition of OT services, and I wanted to use the research project to improve their experience. I used three main primary sources to gain insight into elderly problems; two questionnaires, for the elderly, and OTs, to gain information from both parties, and I interviewed an OT to gain a better understanding of OT training, experience and the scope of work OTs provide. Secondary sources such as a documentary, books, webpages and news articles were used to give credence to the responses, with each being appropriately sourced to