Occupational Therapy – An Occupation Worth Pursuing

Occupational therapy is actually based on "doing", or "occupation". Occupational therapy involves enabling individuals and groups to do the things that they need and want to do in everyday life, and assists people to develop and maintain a meaningful lifestyle. Occupations are anything (tasks and activities) that people do. A lot of people think Occupational therapy is about your job or your occupation. On the contrary, Occupational therapy means enabling a person to do normal things that a normal person does. Some easy examples of normal chores that a person performs in a routine day are eating breakfast, dressing, up, brushing your teeth and taking a bath etc. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by enabling people to do things that will enhance their ability to participate or by modifying the environment to better support participation.

Occupational therapists are based in a variety of clinical and community settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation units, schools, community health centres and people's homes. Some examples of what occupational therapists do include:

·         Enable people to dress themselves again after a stroke

·         Improve the play and movement skills of a baby or child with a disability

·         Visit a disabled or elderly person to make their home easier and safer for them to use

·         Assess the driving ability of someone with a disability

·         Visit work places to assist people to modify their jobs and design work areas to better suit their needs

·         Help people select equipment and appliances, including wheelchairs, assistive technology and dressing aids, to increase their independence

·         Working with adults with learning difficulties to improve their skills for living in the community

·         Work with builders, architects and local authorities to design public places and homes that will suit people with various different abilities

·         Use activities, such as crafts, gardening or cooking to improve a person's hand function

·         Work with people with mental health difficulties to assist them in planning and organising a meaningful lifestyle

·         Show someone with memory difficulties how to use memory aids and cues

Occupational therapists have a broad education that equips them with skills and knowledge to work collaboratively with individuals or groups of people who have an impairment of body structure or function due to a health condition, and who experience barriers to participation. Occupational therapists believe that participation can be supported or restricted by physical, social, attitudinal and legislative environments. Therefore, occupational therapy practice may be directed to changing aspects of the environment to enhance participation.

Occupational therapy is practiced in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, health centres, homes, workplaces, schools, reform institutions and housing for seniors. Clients are actively involved in the therapeutic process, and outcomes of occupational therapy are diverse, client-driven and measured in terms of participation or satisfaction derived from participation. Career opportunities for occupational therapists are excellent in any part of the world. There are also many opportunities for further study and development of specialised expertise in areas such as physical and psychiatric rehabilitation, hand therapy, health services management, learning disability, disability studies, and community occupational therapy.

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