The occupational therapist collaborates with the student, parents, and educators to identify the skills of the student, the demands of the environment, and appropriate solutions for interventions. Another example is the family of a newborn baby with poor feeding skills. The occupational therapist may provide training and support for the family to enhance the baby's ability to drink from a bottle.
Occupational therapy practitioners provide services that enable people to organize, manage, and perform their daily life occupations and activities. Occupational therapy services support a child's participation in activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure, and social interactions.
Occupational Therapy is an important part of overcoming
- Autism
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Learning difficulty
- Developmental delay
- Cerebral palsy
- Down syndrome
- And other neurological disorders.
"Everyday life activity" is occupation
Occupational therapists' expertise lies in their knowledge of occupation and how engaging in occupations can be used to affect human performance and the effects of disease and disability. When working with clients, occupational therapists direct their effort toward helping clients perform. Performance changes are directed to support engagement in meaningful occupations that subsequently affect health, well-being, and life satisfaction.
The process of providing occupational therapy intervention may involve the therapeutic use of occupation as a "means" or method of changing performance. The "end" of the occupational therapy intervention process occurs with the client's improved engagement in meaningful occupation.
Both terms, occupation and activity, are used by occupational therapists to describe participation in daily life pursuits. Occupations are generally viewed as activities having unique meaning and purpose in a person's life. Occupations are central to a person's identity and competence, and they influence how one spends time and makes decisions. The term activity describes a general class of human actions that is goal directed. A person may participate in activities to achieve a goal, but these activities do not assume a place of central importance or meaning for the person.
Occupational therapists value both occupation and activity and recognize their importance and influence on health and wellbeing.
Occupational therapists focus on the following occupations: activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, leisure, play, social participation, and work. The occupational therapy service delivery process includes evaluation, intervention, and outcomes.
During the evaluation, the occupational therapist must gain an understanding of the client's priorities and his or her problems engaging in occupations and activities.
Evaluation and intervention address factors that influence occupational performance, including
- Performance skills (e.g., motor, process, and communication/ interaction skills);
- Performance patterns (e.g., as habits, routines, and roles);
- Context (e.g., physical and social environments);
- Activity demands (e.g., required actions and body functions); and
- Client factors (e.g., neuromuscular, sensory, visual, perceptual, digestive, cardiovascular, and integumentary systems)
The Process of Occupational Therapy
Evaluation, Intervention, and Outcome
Many professions use the process of evaluating, intervening, and targeting intervention outcomes that is outlined in the Framework. However occupational therapy's focus on occupation throughout the process makes the profession's application and use of the process unique. The process of occupational therapy service delivery begins by evaluating the client's occupational needs, problems, and concerns.
Understanding the client as an occupational human being for whom, access and participation in meaningful and productive activities is central to health and well-being, is a perspective that is unique to occupational therapy. Problems and concerns that are addressed in evaluation and intervention are also framed uniquely from an occupational perspective, are based on occupational therapy theories, and are defined as problems or risks in occupational performance.
During intervention, the focus remains on occupation, and efforts are directed toward fostering improved engagement in occupations. A variety of therapeutic activities, including engagement in actual occupations and in daily life activities, are used in intervention.
Occupational Therapy at Playstreet
Occupational therapists provide services to children, families, caregivers, and educational staff within a variety of programs and settings. Regardless of where the evaluation and intervention services are provided, the ultimate outcome is to enable the child to participate in activities of daily living, education, work, play, leisure, and social interactions.
