Occupational Therapy

What is Occupational Therapy?

The field of occupational therapy (OT) centers around understanding what activities are meaningful to individual patients in their day-to-day lives, and helping them to increase mobility around those activities so they can get back to fully participating in them.

Occupational therapy treatment focuses on returning patients to the highest level of independence and day-to-day function possible. Goals during treatment are based on activities and skills needed during a patient’s daily routine.

Who Needs Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy can help anyone who has experienced an interruption to their development, who has an acute or traumatic injury, or who has a chronic or progressive condition. If a patient’s mobility is impacted by any one of these, OT can help them rehabilitate.

Benefits of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists work with patients to meet goals by working on their abilities to:

• Independently provide self-care (bathing, brushing teeth, moving independently around the house, etc.)
• Modify repetitive movements that are more ergonomically safe, in order to manage symptoms of pain and strain
• Participate in community activities such as grocery shopping, driving, riding public transportation and cooking
• Using adaptive equipment and tools to prevent pain and further injury (splints, braces, raised toilet seats, etc.)