Therapy & Rehab

Occupational Therapy

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy (OT) enables people to participate in meaningful activities. These activities include taking care of oneself (and others), working, volunteering, and participating in hobbies, interests, and social events. Occupational therapy involves ongoing assessments to understand what activities you can do (and those you want to do), any current limitations, your goals/motivations, and offer advice/techniques to do something more easily and safely.

Occupational therapists (OTs) can prescribe devices to help you do the activities you want and need to do.

Occupation therapy

Benefits of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists have the knowledge and expertise to facilitate return to work after illness or injury. Their skill set reaches between physical and cognitive issues, which OTs assess and determine the potential impact on functional abilities. They can collaborate with employers to implement cost-effective workplace accommodations. The involvement of an occupational therapist can cut lost workdays in half and help to increase employee productivity:

  1. Improve Strength and Endurance for Functional Tasks
  2. Occupational Therapists are trained to Work on Functional Cognition and Visual Deficits.
  3. Accelerate and improve management of illness and disability through personalized care strategies
  4. Regain independence through rehabilitation.
  5. Decrease the risk of illness recurrence
  6. Decrease the risk of disability through preventive strategies.

What are the types of interventions in Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy has a wide range of specialties. AFew of the interventions are listed below:

  1. Physical
    • Neuroplasticity based motor learning approach
    • Mirror therapy
  2. Cognitive
    • Stimulation activities
    • Compensatory strategies for memory
    • Executive dysfunction
    • Cognitive fatigue
    • Stress management
  3. Functional
    • Return to activity (can include activities such as self-care, transfers, writing, driving, household chores, leisure, etc.)
    • Simulated activity remediation
    • Assistive devices (bathroom equipment, dressing aids)
    • Energy conservation/Fatigue management
    • Stress management
    • Occupational scheduling
  4. Home safety and equipment recommendations
  5. Assistive Devices Program authorizer for mobility devices (walkers, manual and power wheelchairs, and scooters)

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What to expect at Occupational Therapy

The occupational therapist will meet with you or, if desired, your family members/caregivers to discuss your concerns and identify challenges and activities you are having difficulty completing and establish treatment goals. A medical referral is not necessary to receive occupational therapy services.

The therapist will then assess the identified challenging activities and create a treatment plan for you. The evaluation may consist of standardized assessments or dynamic activity analysis of the activities. Our treatment plans include direct one-on-one intervention sessions for a block of sessions with a re-evaluation of progress.

Intervention sessions can vary depending on issues identified and may include activity task practice, activities to stimulate fine and gross motor control, activities to stimulate cognition/perceptual abilities, self-regulation and introduction and training with strategies or devices to facilitate activity completion.

When to see an Occupational Therapist?

Age or an injury or disability makes it difficult for you to live independently; an occupational therapist can help you regain your independence and stay self-sufficient. If you are finding the fundamental abilities in self-care activities (dressing, eating, grooming), in household or work activities (ex. writing, computer use, meal preparation and planning, home, and life organization), and in leisure activities (hobbies, recreational activities, social outings) challenging you should arrange for a session with a therapist. An occupational therapist can also help modify the environment or the activities so that the person can accomplish them.

Who can benefit from In-Home Occupational Therapy?

Home Occupational therapy sessions are extremely helpful for people discharged from the hospital who may find mobility challenges. It can also prove extremely beneficial for individuals considered high-risk patients as there is a high risk of infection in public places. At-home occupational therapy greatly benefits high-risk individuals from the safety of their own homes.

Benefits of virtual sessions

Virtual Occupational therapy session makes rehabilitation accessible right from the comfort of your home. Assessment, treatment, and feedback are all done online, which saves you the time and effort it takes to get to a clinic. This is a huge advantage for people with mobility issues. It is also very advantageous for people living in more remote areas, where access to supplementary healthcare is limited, it offers quality treatment that might not otherwise be available. 

High-risk patients can also benefit from virtual physiotherapy as it would avoid putting them in an environment that may not be safe for them as they may have compromised mobility or immunity, or disability.

Occupational Therapy is covered by insurance

Most healthcare plans do cover occupational therapy services. Depending on your insurance plan, 80-100% of the service cost is covered.  If you do not know about the coverage you have with your insurance company call us at 437-3456-890 and we will find it out for you.

Resources

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