The Role Of An Occupational Therapist

The expansion of occupational therapy (OT) is becoming international in areas where OT services were not previously provided. While western occupational therapists travel to other countries, it is important to understand cultural differences.

Occupational therapy practitioners are trained at assessing body function, activity limitations, and participation restrictions (Roe, 2013). Such restriction includes; physical disability. An occupational therapist must evaluate the client's baseline function before creating an intervention to help in reducing long-term disability by facilitating the participation in everyday activities, areas of occupation, and social roles (Powell, Rich, & Wise, 2016). According to parenting and child care “A physical disability is any condition that permanently prevents normal body movement and/or control. There are many different types of physical disabilities. Some of the main ones include; Muscular dystrophies, Acquired brain and spinal injuries, Spina bifida, Cerebral palsy” (2016). However, the underlying factor of physical disability is motor control. Motor control is referred as the ability to use

The name of the society changed in 1923, due to hospitals wanting a national directory of qualified occupational therapists. There now was a minimal standard of training that had to be met before an individual was put in the directory (AOTA, 2009). The name was changed to the American Occupational Therapy Association. The American Medical Association worked with the American Occupational Therapy Association starting in 1933 on getting improved education programs for occupational therapists (AOTA, 2009).

Growing up, I have been an individual who has pushed myself beyond the minimum requirements in order to succeed. In high school I excelled in both academics and athletics. I graduated in the top 10% of my class and lettered in hockey and tennis my sophomore, junior, and senior year. I worked hard and put in extra time in order to set myself apart from others. Succeeding in both school and athletics made me a responsible, reliable, and an organized individual. These experiences made me a versatile individual and have given me a work ethic that has benefited me with my academics in college and with my work and volunteer experiences.

Occupational Therapist enables people to engage and participate in everyday activities trough occupation. The latter role is not only applicable for individuals but also groups or populations. Eventually, with the increase of the aging population, expensive health care services, occupational therapists will have to incorporate health promotion practices into their actual roles.To cope with this phenomenon and to better meet older adult’s needs, the occupational therapist 's role would benefit from being enlarged.Expanding their knowledge and their practices in promoting health will facilitate their work in other domains.This will help them to shift from an individual to a population approach. To achieve that transition, therapists should be more involved in decisions taken by politicians regarding health and to develop services and programs that promote well-being, health, and quality of life. Also, collaboration with other fields such as schools, workplaces, industries, deputies and organizations will help them spread strategies that promote awareness and enable the population to control and maintain an independent healthy lifestyle. Also, therapists understand that the environment can be a crucial factor on health population. Therefore ,they can put pressure on the government to make public places more accessible to disabled people such as providing the subway of a wheelchair ramp and adapt crosswalks to the blind by adding pedestrian signals that include speakers at

For my career exploration assignment I have chosen the field of occupational therapy. Not only am I a certified occupational therapists assistant, but I also have a passion for this field. Occupational therapy wasn’t something that I have always wanted to pursue, but once I got into college and observed an occupational therapist I fell in love with the occupation. Occupational therapy is the unique focus on occupation and daily life activities and the application of an intervention process that facilitates engagement in occupation to support participation in everyday life (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 1994). As therapists we are here to help our patients return to the highest level of independent physical function. Patients come to us in their lowest time, and it is our job to help build them up, and teach them how to be more independent, and to live their life to the fullest. Occupational therapists assistants do everything from increasing a patient’s standing/sitting tolerance and balance, safety with transfer training, dressing, bathing, grooming, and bed mobility. A lot of people always ask, “Physical therapy and occupational therapy are the same thing right?” That is not true. Physical therapy helps with the bigger movements, such as walking and lower extremity muscles, where as occupational therapy focuses on smaller, more fine motor movements, such as clothing manipulation, and grooming tasks. Occupational therapy helps to regain independence

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

“You treat a disease: you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you win-no matter what the outcome.”— Patch Adams This quote motivates me to become an occupational therapist. An Occupational therapist has to apply their specific knowledge to enable people to engage in activities of daily living that have personal meaning and value. Develop, improve, sustain, or restore independence to any person who has an injury, illness, disability or psychological dysfunction("Occupational Therapists."Ohio Means Jobs). Occupational therapy allows people across the lifespan to do the activities they want and need to do and a Occupational therapist will help kids get there ("Occupational Therapist." About Careers). An occupational therapist offers many benefits and opportunities because you get to be with kids and help kids while you work.

A job in any type of therapeutic healthcare can be a rewarding and satisfying job. However, I believe that occupational therapy is a special and extremely rewarding field. A field in which I am over the moon passionate about and completely infatuated with. It is the thought of helping people who have been through horrible tragedies to turn everything around and live a happy healthy life that drives me the most. I feel very strongly as though this profession is where I am meant to work in and make a difference in patient’s lives. The more I research topics and studies of occupational therapy the more infatuated with the field I become because it is much more than just a job. To me, this career is a lifestyle

These relationships have helped me to embrace cultural norms, routines and rituals. Personal Context defines me as a middle class individual working hard to get my masters of occupational therapy degree in two and half years from Barry University. Significant part of my daily life revolves around atmosphere in which communication is conducted via virtual medium; computers, cell phone. Process Intervention process of Occupational Therapy contains evaluation, intervention, and outcome. However, occupation therapy focuses on occupation throughout the process, thereby making it unique. To make the process clearer and easy to understand, a visual illustration is enclosed labeled, (Figure 2). Occupational profile is an initial phase in my evaluation process, involving my occupational history, patterns of daily living, interests, etc. which are explained above. My motive for pursuing corrections in occupational disruptions is due to my full time work and school related obligations. Now with my busy schedule I have to hire a caregiver and modify my house for my aunt. Effective time management is also my top priority because of my educational

Going out into the community and asking people what their definition of occupational therapy is, enhanced the fact that there are not only several different definitions of occupational therapy, but many people are unaware of the true definition, role, and impact occupational therapist have on individuals and society. I asked five different individuals if they knew what occupational therapy was and how they would define it. Everyone said they knew what it was, but yet they still seemed to lack important aspects of the definition. The five people I

My roles of occupation in my life are being a student, daughter, sister, and an employee. As this moment, my main role is being student in occupational therapy program. I attend to every single classes with a main purpose that I will receive the knowledge that I need to know in order to get my degree in Occupational Therapy Assistance.

Determining the needs and wishes of the client is paramount to a successful OT process. As pointed out in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (2014) meaning is integral to occupation. For meaning to emerge, discussions must take place between the client and OT. JD is a case example in which a therapist develops an

Due to their inability to adjust to American culture and traditions, European Immigrants crowded Psychiatric facilities. Mental illness was looked at from the medical perspective and was viewed as incurable, causing individuals to be directed to asylums. Revolutionizing ideas about the causes and treatments of mental illness and deinstitutionalization revived the role of Occupational Therapist in the role of treatment of mental illness. A century later, and though the assistance of occupational therapy in mental health and in the community remain available, still the prevalence in the 18-25-year-old group continues at double the rate of the general population (AOTA). The recovery model emphasizes independence and supports a person’s journey

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).