Everything about Occupational Therapy & Therapist - Meaning, Roles & Responsibilities
Occupational therapy is one such mode of treatment that takes care of individuals with difficulties in mobility and coordination. Professionals involved in this practice primarily use exercises to help such people regain confidence in doing their daily activities. If you find it interesting and want to know what occupational therapy is in detail, read till the end.
What Is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy, or OT, is a procedure that teaches one to adapt to special circumstances. In some cases, experts use assistive tools to help recover a person. This therapy is suggested for those who are unable to do everyday tasks due to impairment of their motor skills. Some of the examples are listed below:
- Eat by themselves
- Write
- Participate in activities
- Take bathe and dress
- Do simple chores like laundry or cleaning up
Nevertheless, you should know occupational therapy has nothing to do with vocational counselling. It helps people to resume physical activities so that they can live a regular life again. It is possible to confuse Physiotherapy with this profession. The former helps people restore their physical functions, while the latter concentrates on how that function affects one's ability to do physical things.
What Does Occupational Therapy Help to Treat?
As you have gathered enough information on what occupational therapy is, let’s learn about who may require assistance through occupational therapy.
Individuals with the following conditions can benefit from OTs to regain mobility and coordination skills.
- Autism
- Cerebral palsy
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
- Brain trauma
- Multiple sclerosis
- Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
- Epilepsy
- ADHD
- Developmental coordination disorder or Dyspraxia
- Developmental delay
- Down syndrome
- Intellectual disability
- Learning disorder
- Poor balance
- Arthritis
- Joint replacement
- Impaired vision
- Hearing impairment
- Sensory processing disorder
- Anxiety and depression
- OCD
- PTSD
- Body-focused repetitive behaviour
- Substance abuse
- Addiction
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Migraine
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic diseases
How Do Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Differ?
In simple terms, physical therapy focuses on treating an individual to improve their ability to move and do physical activities. On the contrary, occupational therapy focuses on helping those individuals perform regular activities.
The table below makes it easier to understand the difference between the two types of therapy.
| Physical Therapy | Occupational Therapy |
|---|---|
| Founded for physical rehabilitation. | Foundation lies in mental healthcare and physical rehabilitation. |
| Restores the patient's ability to move by reducing the pain to improve motor skills. | Focuses on ways to change, adapt and modify everyday activities. |
| PT uses modern treatment methods as an alternative for surgeries or medicinal help. | OT uses positive coping methodologies to assist those with mental disabilities. |
| Suggested to those recovering from injuries that affected their skills. | Recommended to people with certain neurological, intellectual or developmental delays. |
Who Does Occupational Therapy?
Experts who perform Occupational Therapy are called ‘Occupational Therapists’. They can work on any age group, from premature infants to older adults.
What Is the Role of an Occupational Therapist?
Suppose you want an appointment with an occupational therapist. In such cases, you should know how they work. However, in a simple way, their work is to assess and analyse how these individuals perform some basic tasks and develop a plan to treat them. The following segment will help you know what occupational therapists do in detail:
Observe
The process begins with careful observation and continuous assessments. The therapists observe such individuals performing specific tasks. That is followed by assessment procedures like interviews and consultation sessions in different settings. They encourage them to share the problems they face in their environment.
Plan
After assessing and observing, the OTs plan what kind of treatment is required, and they ensure the plan that is developed aligns with the patient's condition, lifestyle, habits and environment.
Intervene
The therapists then intervene with some programs keeping them oriented with the patient and their environment. These programs are designed in such ways that facilitate everyday work along with promoting adaptation to situations. This includes teaching new techniques and helping with tools to help gain independence in personal care.
Cooperate
Occupational therapists state cooperation and coordination are essential aspects of their procedure. They cooperate with other healthcare supporters, patients' families and others to make the most of this holistic approach.
Since you are now aware of occupational therapists and what they do, we can move on to the next segment.
Where Do Occupational Therapists Work?
Most occupational therapists work from their personal offices or in hospitals. Some of them work in schools and nursing homes. There are other occupational therapists who work for private as home health service providers.
How Can We Find an Occupational Therapist?
If you think occupational therapy is something that you require to get cured, you can do the following:
- Ask your general physician to recommend a specialist.
- Some schools have an in-house occupational therapist to help children of all ages; you can ask for their help.
- Visit a nearby hospital or a rehabilitation centre for references.
The profession of an occupational therapist is still growing as not many people are aware of this practice. Most OTs are hired by private sectors, rehabilitation centres, special schools, home healthcare services, NGOs and non-profitable organisations. Nevertheless, the number is still low as compared to its actual requirement.
So, to conclude what occupational therapy is, we can say it is a healthcare procedure practised by licensed experts. This therapy helps people regain the ability to use the motor skills required to perform everyday tasks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do occupational therapists make in India?
The estimated salary of occupational therapists in India ranges from ₹40,000 to ₹8,10,000. However, this is highly dependent on experience and skills.
What are some of the occupational therapy activities for kids?
Building obstacles, cooking activities, making bath time fun, reading stories to children, and making your kids draw or work on vertical surfaces. These are some basic activities which can be done at home using common household items.