Occupational Therapy – Is that helping people get back to work?
Not really! “Occupations” are life activities; how we occupy our time throughout life. When someone is having trouble performing their life activities to the level they want, occupational therapists:
- Treat symptoms
- Maximize physical and mental capacities
- Nurture underlying motivations for life activities
- Develop skills, habits, and routines
- Modify the structural and social environments where a person’s life activities happen
- Balance overall life activities
- Maximize short-term and long-term performance in life activities
What training do occupational therapists get?
Occupational therapy is a medical profession requiring a master’s or doctorate degree. Coursework includes:
- Intensive study of anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, neurology, human development, psychology, disability, accessibility, and more
- Assessment of physiological conditions and how they are affecting a person’s life performance
- Practical skills in wound care, physical agent modalities, custom splints, lymphedema management, sensory modulation, vision rehabilitation, assistive technology, seating and mobility, home modification, ergonomics, and more
- Scientific research, management, entrepreneurial skills, program design and implementation, and outcome evaluation
Where do occupational therapists work?
Occupational therapy is an exceptionally broad profession working in a variety of settings:
| Early Child Development | Helping infants and children catch up to developmental milestones |
| Schools | Child development, seating and mobility, accessing learning and social play |
| Hospitals | Acute care, surgical recovery, ICUs, burn units, long term intensive care for neonatal, pediatric, and adult units |
| Older Adults | Assisted living and skilled nursing facilities |
| Outpatient Clinics | Pediatrics and adults, professional sports teams, rehab clinics, hand therapy, vision, executive functioning, telehealth, neurodiversity |
| Inpatient Rehab | Intensive rehabilitation units after intense multi-trauma, neurological, or other severe changes to life functioning |
| Home Health | Visiting people’s homes to improve their capacity and function at home and in the community |
| Workplaces | Ergonomics, workplace injury rehab, driver’s rehab |
| Behavioral Health | Inpatient hospitals, corrections, community behavioral health |
| Adaptive Leisure | Kayaking, sailing, hockey, rock climbing, paragliding, you name it! |
Brain Tree 