what will i contribute to as an occupatioanl theraoust
What is an Occupational Therapist?
Being an occupational therapist is a very challenging and dynamic career. This career makes a big deviation in people'due south lives (both young and former), as it helps them develop practical strategies, and gives them the independence to practice things they want to exercise while learning how to deal with their physical, mental, and/or social barriers. This could be as uncomplicated as enabling someone to shop for groceries and cook a meal unassisted.
As you can imagine, this role provides immense task satisfaction. You will be able to work with people of all ages, whose issues may have been with them since nativity, or caused by affliction, an accident, lifestyle choices, or ageing.
What does an Occupational Therapist do?
Occupational therapists, (sometimes called OTs), work with people of all ages to overcome concrete obstacles or ailments. They help them get back to fully engaging in their daily lives.
This tin can be anything from conducting an in-dwelling house assessment to create a safe living environment, to helping them with everyday tasks such as getting dressed, moving around the house, cooking, eating, gardening, doing school piece of work, using a reckoner, and driving.
An occupational therapist volition typically do the post-obit:
- Observe patients doing tasks, enquire the patient questions, and review the patient's medical history
- Employ the observations, answers, and medical history to evaluate the patient's status and needs
- Plant a treatment plan for patients, laying out the types of activities and specific goals to be accomplished
- Assistance people with various disabilities with dissimilar tasks, such every bit helping an older person with poor memory use a computer, or leading an autistic child in play activities
- Demonstrate exercises that can help salvage pain for people with chronic weather condition, such as articulation stretches for arthritis sufferers
- Evaluate a patient'due south home or workplace and identify how it tin can be better suited to the patient'southward health needs
- Educate a patient'south family and employer about how to accommodate and care for the patient
- Recommend special equipment, such as wheelchairs and eating aids, and instruct patients how to use that equipment
- Assess and tape patients' activities and progress for evaluating clients, for billing, and for reporting to physicians and other healthcare providers
Patients with permanent disabilities, such every bit cerebral palsy, often need help performing daily tasks. Occupational therapists show these patients how to utilise advisable adaptive equipment, such every bit leg or articulatio genus braces, wheelchairs, and eating aids. Patients can function independently and control their living environment by using these devices.
Some occupational therapists piece of work in educational settings with children one-on-one, or in small groups. They evaluate disabled children's abilities, modify classroom equipment to accommodate sure disabilities, and assist children participate in school activities. Some therapists provide early on intervention therapy to infants and toddlers who have, or are at risk of having, developmental delays.
Occupational therapists who work with the elderly help their patients atomic number 82 more independent and active lives. They assess the patient's abilities and environs and make recommendations, such as using adaptive equipment or identifying and removing potential fall hazards in the home.
In some cases, occupational therapists aid patients create functional work environments. They evaluate the piece of work infinite, programme work activities, and run into with the patient's employer to collaborate on changes to the patient's piece of work environment or schedule.
Occupational therapists may as well work in mental wellness settings where they aid patients who endure from developmental disabilities, mental affliction, or emotional issues. They assist these patients cope with, and appoint in, daily life past teaching skills such as time direction, budgeting, using public transportation, and doing household chores.
Additionally, therapists may piece of work with individuals who take problems with drug corruption, alcoholism, depression, or suffer from other disorders.
Some occupational therapists, such equally those employed in hospitals or physicians' offices, piece of work every bit part of a healthcare team, along with doctors, registered nurses, and other types of therapists. They may as well oversee the work of occupational therapy assistants and aides.
What is the workplace of an Occupational Therapist like?
Occupational therapists can work in a variety of fields, such every bit mental health, neurology, work rehabilitation, and social care, and tin provide a variety of unlike roles throughout one's career, such equally practitioner, consultant, manager, researcher, teacher, or even running a private business.
Oft Asked Questions
What is the difference between physical therapy and occupational therapy?
Occupational therapists and physical therapists often address similar conditions using similar treatment methods and tools. Interestingly, at one time both types of therapists were known equally reconstruction aides.
These 'reconstruction aides' worked to rehabilitate veterans in Globe War I and gave brownie to concrete rehabilitation interventions. Today, both professions are able to aid with improving and arresting deterioration of a patient's physical ability — the ultimate goal of both practices is to help patients acquit out their daily activities with as much ease as possible. Both professions are able to work with their patients on a longterm basis (if required), and increase their patient's independence and quality of life.
In certain settings, occupational therapists and physical therapists may look identical, however in that location are specific distinctions between the two disciplines:
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy focuses on evaluating and improving a person'due south functional power, and on how the patient uses fine motor and cognitive skills to perform tasks that are meaningful to them. Simply put, occupational therapists help their patients perform day-to-mean solar day tasks.
Patients recovering from injuries or accept developmental or cognitive disabilities affecting their motor skills, emotions or behaviour are not directly treated for their injury by the occupational therapist, but are helped with their independence, the improvement of their life skills, and assisted with their ability to accomplish daily activities following their injury.
Some occupational therapy may happen in a hospital or in the occupational therapist's part, even so a big chunk of the therapy will be done in the patient's dwelling house or work surroundings. The reason for this is that occupational therapy puts a strong emphasis on the applied aspects of helping individuals exercise the things they demand to do in order to live their life to the fullest.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy's principal focus, on the other hand, is working with people recovering from injuries and specifically working on a patient'due south gross motor functions. A concrete therapist volition focus on evaluating, diagnosing, and treating a person's injured tissues and structures, and may use massage therapy, do, or acupuncture to treat these injuries. Therapy usually happens in a concrete therapist'due south office, and not in a person'south home.
Physical therapy tin besides focus on preventing injuries, and tin can help people avert having to become through surgery, or provide plenty relief to get people off of pain medications. Concrete therapists are specifically trained in body mechanics and in how various body systems are affected by motion, positioning, and exercise. In order to ease or increment body movement, they typically focus on improving force, balance, and range of motility, often targeting the spine and lower body extremities.
How Both Therapies Intertwine
In some cases, patients may begin treatment past seeing a physical therapist beginning, and then move on to seeing an occupational therapist. For instance, a patient might run into a concrete therapist afterward having a stroke in order to build back musculus strength. However, one time the muscles have strengthened, that patient may see an occupational therapist to help with taking a bathroom or shower, eating, buttoning a shirt, or using the restroom.
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What is some good communication for occupational therapy students?
Don't be surprised to meet students in other majors having more than free time than you, as being in schoolhouse for occupational therapy ways more and tougher school work, and also means giving up much of your erstwhile life for two or three years. Exist prepared for a lot of work and know that you may non make all A's, but in the end, know that occupational therapists are in demand and better paid than many other careers out there.
It's good to be aware of the many fields of occupational therapy in society to make an informed conclusion as to the direction you'd like to take. Occupational therapists tin have different options for placements, therefore it is important to explore early to get the nearly out of your education. There are also many unlike specialties that can be looked at, such every bit hand therapy or equine-assisted therapy (which is a collaborative try between the therapist and a equus caballus professional person working with the customer and horse to address handling goals).
Keep in mind that schools accept hard admissions processes and very high expectations of their students, equally they want students that will uphold the cadre values of the occupational therapist field. Therapists take the responsibility of beingness upstanding practitioners, and should always have the wellness, well-being and best interests of the client as their top priority.
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What is the difference betwixt occupational therapy and recreational therapy?
Both occupational therapists and recreational therapists tin observe employment in similar and/or the same work settings, sometimes even working together every bit a team to provide the all-time wellness care to their patients.
The differences between the ii types of therapy tin be seen when looking at each profession's master focus or purpose when information technology comes to their patients:
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy focuses primarily upon helping patients with injuries, illnesses, or disabilities develop, recover, and improve the skills and activities that are essential for day-to-day living and working.
This tin include annihilation from conducting an in-home cess, creating a safety living environment, or helping with everyday tasks such as getting dressed, moving around the house, cooking, eating, gardening, doing schoolhouse work, using a computer, and driving.
Responsibilities can include observing patients doing tasks, evaluating a patient'south condition and needs, establishing a treatment program, helping the patient with various tasks, educating a patient's family unit and employer almost how to accommodate and treat the patient, evaluating progress, and reporting to physicians and other healthcare providers.
Recreational Therapy
Co-ordinate to the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, recreational therapy is a service used to "restore, remediate and rehabilitate a person's level of functioning and independence in life activities, to promote health and wellness, every bit well every bit reduce or eliminate the activity limitations and restrictions to participation in life situations caused by an illness or disabling condition."
The recreational therapist's goal focuses primarily on enhancing patient'south lives by mode of leisure and play. Recreational therapists educate patients that have cognitive, social, concrete, mental, or emotional limitations about the benefits of recreation.
Often, these types of limitations tin negatively touch an individual'due south attitude, motivation, and participation when it comes to recreational activities. By helping their patients develop and practice skills to ameliorate their participation in leisure activities, their barriers towards these types of activities can be removed and the benefits of health and well-beingness tin come into play.
A recreational therapist'due south responsibilities can include assessing patient's needs, developing tailored programs for each patient, planning events, and evaluating progress.
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Are Occupational Therapists happy?
Occupational Therapists rank amid the to the lowest degree happy careers. Overall they rank in the 26th percentile of careers for satisfaction scores. Please note that this number is derived from the information nosotros take nerveless from our Sokanu members only.
This notably low happiness metric among occupational therapists may be at to the lowest degree partially attributable to the considerable physical and emotional demands of the piece of work.
What are Occupational Therapists like?
Based on our puddle of users, Occupational Therapists tend to exist predominately social people. This is an expected finding, based on the work that OTs practise. They use practical movement and practise to rehabilitate patients with disabilities or injuries. They blueprint work or habitation environments that enable individuals to overcome their challenges and adapt. They help people of all ages, from children to the elderly. Their work demands almost constant social interaction with patients, patients' families, and other healthcare professionals.
Steps to becoming an Occupational Therapist
A Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy is required to work in the field. Generally, to qualify for state licensure, OTs must graduate from a program accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Clan (AOTA) and pass the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) examination.
While occupational therapy master'south programs may have applications from students with a bachelor's degree in any subject area, applicants with a background in health science typically have an advantage in the admissions process.
OT curricula focus on behavioral neuroscience, biology, physiology, functional anatomy, kinesiology, psychology, occupational therapy research, and the do of OT in healthcare settings. Often, students can tailor their clinical fieldwork to their specific interests, such as pediatrics, geriatrics, or physical disabilities.
Some universities offer bachelor'due south to master'due south degree bridge programs that allow students to earn ii degrees in a compressed timeframe.
Should I become an Occupational Therapist?
Here's a snapshot of the occupational therapy field to help y'all respond this question.
The Pros
Need
Graduates in this field practise not face many difficulties in finding a job. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 27 percent task growth for OTs through 2024.
Salary
With high demand comes higher salaries. Occupational therapists are amidst the most well paid professionals in the U.Due south.
Work Settings
Occupational therapists can cull to piece of work in many different clinical environments, including hospitals, rehab centers, nursing homes, and home healthcare settings.
Flexibility and Opportunities for Specialization
OTs can cull to work on a full-time or a office-fourth dimension footing. The can also choose to specialize. Amongst the options are geriatrics, pediatrics, concrete rehabilitation, mental health, vison therapy, and hand therapy.
Chore Satisfaction
OTs generally derive a great deal of satisfaction from the work they do, quite merely because they make a divergence in their patients' lives.
Social Aspect
Past the nature of their work, occupational therapists encounter and work very closely with many different people from many different walks of life.
The Cons
Risk of Infection
Sometimes, the work of an OT is messy. There are times when it is necessary to clean urine, vomit, belch from infected wounds, and blood.
Patient Misbehavior
Patients facing the challenges of occupational therapy are going to be in bad moods some days. They may have out their distress and exasperation on their therapist. In these circumstances, OTs have to remain calm and realize that these outbursts are the event of frustrations; they are rarely personal.
Physical Demands
Lifting and moving adult patients can exist physically demanding.
Long and Irregular Hours
Some situations may call for particularly long days. Weekend and holiday shifts are not uncommon.
Emotional Price
While occupational therapists can certainly feel emotional highs in witnessing patient progress and recovery, they too must deal with situations in which their patients fail to improve or dice. This can be stressful and emotionally draining, specially for OTs who are new to the job.
The Required Skills
Having read the job's pros and cons, you will likely at present understand the need for these skills in the occupation:
• Advice and observational skills
• Creativity and practicality; ability to find unconventional ways to aid patients
• Passion, sensitivity, and patience
• Chapters to encourage and motivate patients
• Ability to work as part of team – with patients and with colleagues
• Evaluation and report writing skills
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A blogger's perspective of working in occupational therapy
Occupational Therapists are too known as:
Registered Occupational Therapist
Source: https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/occupational-therapist/
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