What is an Occupational Therapist?

April is Occupational Therapy Month! But what exactly is occupational therapy?

You may have heard or even had an occupational therapist before but what does this mean for you? What does an occupational therapist do? To answer the questions that have been asked many times before, no occupational therapy isn't for finding you a job and you don't need a job to have occupational therapy. In fact the term occupation is meant more for any type of occupation that you participate in, not just a job. Think about all of the occupations that you participate in just a day. This could be bathing and dressing, working or going to school, participating in a hobby, driving, cleaning, or even sleeping. All of these occupations are part of what an occupational therapist examines and focuses their treatments on.

The American Occupational Therapy Association defines occupational therapy "as the only profession that helps people across the lifespan to do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations)." Although we are the only profession to do this, it can sometimes be confusing to differentiate between physical therapy and occupational therapy.

You might even think that physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) are the same thing, which many people do. There are a few places that the fields overlap but mostly PT and OT are very different. If you fall and break your hip; a physical therapist might work on strengthening your leg as well as increasing your mobility of the hip. An occupational therapist will focus more on your ability to put on your pants, or get in and out of the shower. They may even help you modify your home setting to be safer to maneuver your walker or to reduce your risk for falls in the future. What sometimes can get confusing however is the approach can be similar to a physical therapist, for instance both an OT and a PT can work on getting in and out of bed or on and off of a toilet but OT might focus more on the aspect of managing your clothing before and after.

So does this mean you have to have an injury or a disability to seek out an occupational therapist? No! Although an occupational therapist primarily works with individuals with disabilities and injuries they are also experts in caregiver training and activity analysis. If you are a caregiver you may want to seek out occupational therapy training to see if there is anything that can be modified to make your job easier.

The amazing thing about occupational therapy is how versatile the field is. An occupational therapist can help you with a hand injury, a strengthening routine, a modification to your home, and can even train your loved one to take care of you with increased ease. This is just one of many services an OT can provide. Schedule an appointment today to see just what they can do for you!

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