Occupational therapy is an important health service made to help people regain independence, and satisfaction on all aspects of their lives. Occupational therapists are available to help everywhere whether you are at home, community, hospital, school, private practice, or hospital.

The word occupation refers to everything that people do during their everyday life. It refers to all the activities that occupy one’s time.

Occupational Therapy

The Occupational therapy promotes health and well being. It allows people to take part in daily activities. Occupational therapists attain this outcome by working with people to increase their abilities to engage in the occupation they want to, or are expected to do. They modify the occupation or the environment for them to assist their occupational engagement.

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Occupational therapy is for all, including those who have an impairment of body structure or function. It focuses on allowing people to change their aspects, the environment, the occupation, or some combination of these to increase occupational participation. A majority of people are involved in the occupational therapy process. The therapy has been regulated as a health profession and requires specific university level education.

Working in Occupational Therapy

To support the occupation of life, occupational therapists work with individuals to define goals and create a plan to attain those goals on time. Furthermore, Occupational therapists work with people with disabilities such as developmental coordination issues, spinal cord injury, arthritis, or mental illness. They are valuable coaches to help people do what they wish to do. Before starting with therapy, occupational therapists evaluate the environments in which people work, play, and maximize their participation.

The therapy first works by addressing the most basic self-care activities. The self-care tasks are also known as activities of daily life and include bathing, eating, socializing, mobility, toileting, grooming, sexual expression, and communicating. Occupational therapy also works on activities that people perform to meet their need to be productive individuals. These productive activities fall into four general categories namely care of others, vocational activities, home management, and educational activities. Work activities are not just limited to preparing food, cleaning, money management, retirement planning, shopping, go to school, and job performance.

The therapy is related to the ability of the patients to receive enjoyment and satisfaction from their surrounding environment. Play activities are for relaxation, and these may include sports activities, creative activities, and hobbies.

Regain independence, enhance development and prevent disability

For a patient who is physically disabled, increasing independent function might involve performing strengthening exercises, and preparing meals using modified techniques. Occupational therapy helps a patient able to go about daily life with greater independence than before treatment. It regains independence in a patient and allows him/her to confidently perform the daily tasks.

The therapy enhances development in patients who have disorders that cause deficiencies or disrupts proper functioning. Occupational therapy is often given to children who have cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. Particularly, in these cases, therapists focus on promoting the development of movement and communication functions.

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Without treatment, certain health conditions may cause temporary or permanent disability. For example, loss of function in the injured body part of a patient with tendon injuries. Occupational therapy works to prevent disabilities by providing treatment to avoid loss of function of a disabled body part.