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Life can get really hard when you are unable to do normal things like holding a spoon to eat your food, your parents forgetting basic things, or your child is struggling to hold a pencil. It’s natural for humans to work, and you know, do things. We all write, cook, play, read, and drive. Commonly, these small things are often referred to as occupations. Occupational therapy helps you when you are unable to practice these small things in your daily life. It is commonly caused by accidents, body shifts, and emotional imbalance, process of aging, and child’s sensory issues. In this blog, you will completely understand what occupational therapy is and why it matters.
Why is occupational theory important for allied health?
It is crucial for allied health as it elaborate on the importance of daily activities for your health and recovery. In the case of allied health professionals, this includes speech pathology which treats speech and fluency issues. It also includes physiotherapy, which treat your muscles to maintain and improve movements. Occupational therapy also focuses on improving the overall body functionality. It helps to maintain your well-being by managing your physical health, the environment, and mental health. It manages all these conditions under one umbrella. It encourages you to get back into your life with a fresh perspective.
What does occupational therapy actually mean?
In simple words, occupational therapy (OT) helps you to do everyday things in your life. It begins by understanding your needs and the reasons that are stopping you. It provides you with support to manage your chores in new ways, increase your strength after an injury, regulate your child’s developmental delays, and manage your social anxiety with school. Sometimes occupation is seen as employment here. In reality, it’s not a job, it’s more about picking a daily activity for yourself that fills your time, gives you structure, and meaning in your life.
Effect of inability to do basic things on mental health
It is important to realize that the small things you do every day create a sense of independence in your life. It feels good to cook your own food, button up your shirt yourself, go wherever you want to, and attend any community event you want. It represents your identity of who you really are, like a student, parent, teacher, or member of a community. It can be really humiliating, heart-wrenching, and annoying for your mental health to experience a lack of independence in your life. This way, the effects spread beyond physical limitations. Occupational therapy is ideal for you in this context to maintain good health.
What’s the role of an occupational therapist?
The main goal of your occupational therapist is to understand the reasons and blocks that are stopping you from living the way you want to in your life. They start off by understanding you, not just your injury but also your whole personality. They examine your physical ability to determine your strength and balance. Then, they examine your cognitive functionality to determine your memory and focus. Lastly, they examine your emotional intelligence to determine your triggers, anxiety, and coping mechanisms. It also helps them to determine your habits, personal goals, and overall personality. Once they identify the blocks in your life, such as an accident that may have affected your hand function, some chronic pain makes cooking exhausting, anxiety stops you from actively participating in your university, or your child struggles with sensory burden.
What solution does your occupational therapist come up with?
Generally, a therapist comes up with a practical solution after determining your blocks, which usually contains a meaning and purpose. It is practiced through one-on-one sessions such as writing, cooking, and driving. They help you do these chores by breaking these activities into small steps alongside helping instruments such as modern cutlery, writing grips, or safety bars. The focus is to function normally, not perfectly. This gives you a meaning to participate, and also provides you with a sense of success.
Who needs occupational therapy?
Occupation therapy can be used for many people across the lifespan. People who need help to do daily-life activities after an injury or accident during recovery. It can be children who experience delayed development. People who have suffered from a stroke may need help to relearn basic activities like eating and dressing. Individuals who suffer from mental health issues can also seek support for their coping mechanism and anxiety for office or university. Older adults usually rely on occupational therapy to remain independent due to reduced mobility and cognitive functions.
Types of occupational therapy
There are various types of occupational therapy that are used in different circumstances. Pediatric occupational therapy is used for children who suffer from developmental delays, poor coordination, behavioral issues, and motor skill challenges. Mental health occupational therapy is used to help individuals suffering from depression and anxiety to manage their routines and coping mechanisms better. Geriatric occupational therapy is used for older adults to help them manage their mobility issues, chronic pain, memory problems, vision changes, hearing loss, and fatigue.
What are the benefits of occupational therapy?
Individuals suffering from physical limitations, mental blocks, and cognitive dysfunction from all age groups can benefit from occupational therapy. It improves their quality of life and helps them be independent. Once you regain your function, your confidence increases and your mental well-being also improves. It can help you to improve your memory and function in the case of cognitive dysfunction. It helps in the development of your children suffering from autism, anxiety, and ADHD. It also provides certain instruments to ensure daily-life activities are safer and easy (like hand bars and grabbers). Overall, it helps you to regain your independence and provides you with support for your emotional well-being. It focuses on long-term outcomes that will support you in work, school, home, and social life.
When should you consider occupational therapy?
It is strongly recommended to consider occupational therapy when you start feeling that your daily-life activities are becoming stressful and overwhelming, such as struggling to write, cook, dress up, and focus, especially after an injury or accident. It can be used for children as well with developmental issues such as speech and language delays. In the case of certain mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, it is important to know that early interference is crucial to ensure faster recovery and independence.
Closing thoughts
Please note that occupational therapy is not a solution to repair yourself. Instead, it focuses on providing you with support with managing your daily-life activities with smart strategies and routines. It doesn’t change your personality. Instead, it provides you with support to regain your independence and live the way you want to in your life. It focuses on small steps to determine big outcomes. It is important to note that you are doing this to regain your independence and live a sustainable lifestyle.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Occupational Therapy
What are the 7 core values of occupational therapy?
It is important to know that occupational therapy practices on the basis of 7 core values that include equality, altruism, dignity, freedom, justice, prudence, and truth.
What differs occupational therapy from physical therapy?
Generally, physical therapy is used to focus on your strength, endurance, and movement. On the other hand, occupational therapy focuses on daily-life movements to make your lifestyle easier. There can be some similarities, but there is a core difference in the goals. Physical training may teach you how to recover from your injury and gain strength, but occupational therapy teaches you how to manage your daily-life activities during the recovery to retain independence.
Is a referral required to consult an occupational therapist?
In most cases, it varies depending on your location, insurance setting, and medical care option. You can also get direct appointments for your therapists in some cases alongside insurance settings. Please note that a doctor’s referral might be necessary in case of a public health service provider.
How early can you start occupational therapy after an injury?
Usually, you can start occupational therapy after 2-3 days of your injury diagnosis to reduce inflammation, avoid stiffness and manage pain. Early involvement saves time and ensures faster recovery.
Which things to avoid during occupational therapy?
It is important to realize that occupational therapy is focused on making your body manage your daily-life activities better and improve your independence. This means to keep your body mechanics in check and prevent any unnecessary stretching in your body. It is also important to do things according to your strength to avoid burnout.
