Treatments that Occupational Therapy Offer

Occupational therapy is defined as a form of therapy for those recuperating from physical or mental illness that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of activities required in daily life. This means that people suffering from health challenges such as disability, illness, injury, or mental disorders are the ones who will get the most benefit from occupational therapy. 

Occupational therapy focuses on the patient, helping you get your health and life back to where you want it to be.

To learn more about occupational therapy,the treatments it offers and the people it benefits, keep reading. 

The People Who Benefit from Occupational Therapy

As mentioned above, people who suffer from health challenges are the ones who will get the most benefit from occupational therapy. But what are the health challenges they are referring to? The health challenges they are referring to include, but are not limited to:

Adults

• Amputees and people with special prosthetics
• Brain injuries and other head injuries
• Cancer patients
• Heart attack or stroke victims
• Mental health sufferers (Anxiety, Depression, etc)
• Multiple sclerosis sufferers and people with permanent disabilities
• People suffering from severe burns
• People suffering from spinal cord trauma
• Auto accident victims suffering from any type of personal injury.

Children

• ADHD
• Asperger’s Syndrome
• Cerebral Palsy
• Children with autism
• Developmental delays
• Down’s Syndrome

Through occupational therapy, these adults and children can begin to work toward their goals and begin to live a healthier and more stable life.

How Occupational Therapy Helps Those in Need

An occupational therapist has only one goal in mind- To help their patients reach their health goals. An occupational therapist will work to help their patients reach their goals by doing these duties:

• Reviewing their patient’s medical histories and asking the patient’s questions.
• Observing their patients doing daily tasks to better evaluate their condition and specific needs.
• After observation, they will develop a treatment plan for their patients. This treatment plan will be specified toward their specific goals, choosing the activities that will best help the patient achieve those goals.
• Aiding people with disabilities in performing different tasks. E.g. Reteaching a stroke victim how to dress themselves.
• Demonstrating exercises that help with pain relief. This is especially helpful to patients who have chronic conditions or are recovering from long-term injuries. 
• Evaluating the patient’s home and/or workplace. This is mainly done for patients who have memory issues. Labels will be placed around the home- especially on cabinets- to help improve memory or aid in those moments when their memory isn’t working best.
• Educating the patient’s family, friends, and employers on how to accommodate the patients needs and care for them.
• Recommending special equipment to aid in the patient’s daily life and giving the patient instruction on how to properly use the equipment. This might be a wheelchair, eating aid, or other tools to help improve their daily life. 
• Keeping a progress report of the patient’s activities. This will include improvements, struggles, or any other vital piece of information. This information is needed for patient evaluations, reports to physicians and other healthcare providers, and for billing purposes.

These goals might change some parts of your life or the life of a loved one who needs occupational therapy, but they can also help you reclaim ownership of your day-to-day life. These goals are put in place to help you get healthier and be able to do everyday activities easier. These activities include: 

For cancer patients, the activities vary:

• Cognitive training
• Daily life activities (Driving, home management, leisurely pursuits, and work functions)
• Energy conservation
• Fatigue management
• Fine motor skills
• Handwriting
• Improving upper extremity range of motion 
• Self-care (Bathing, dressing, eating, etc)
• Strengthening upper extremities
• Task simplification

With all of this in mind, it’s important to let your occupational therapist know what goals are most important to you. After all, it is your life that has been impacted, so you know what matters the most to you. By being open and honest about what matters most to you, together you can work toward meeting your goals of getting back to the life you know. An occupational therapist might suggest other things to aid in your treatment, so listen to their suggestions, but if their suggestions aren’t effective and useful to you, speak up and let them know. Because there is no point to you in engaging in treatments that aren’t bettering your health and life.

The Goal of Occupational Therapy

Obviously, no one wants to be dependant on another person for the rest of their lives. So the goal of occupational therapy is to be discharged from their services. Discharge from this service means you are no longer in need of a therapist to continue making progress. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that your road to recovery is finished. When you are discharged, your occupational therapist will provide education to you and your caregiver about how to continue with your therapy independently. They will give you some suggestions on the best way to do this.

An occupational therapist will do what they can to get you back to a place of health and being able to do your daily tasks easier than you were able to before. Their main priority is you and your needs, making this a beneficial and effective treatment method to those in need.

If you are a federal worker in need of occupational therapy to help treat your work-related injuries or illnesses, then FedHelp can help you get the treatment you need. Someone from their qualified team will be ready and able to help you with all your needs!