OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY 262
NOTES BY LYNDSAY ADAMSON 24964131
,Lyndsay Adamson Occupational Therapy 178 Notes
24964131
OT CORE CONCEPTS & PRACTICE FRAMEWORK
• Defining Occupational Therapy
→A goal-directed activity to promotes independence in function
o Therapeutic use of everyday life activities (occupations)
o Individuals/groups/populations
o Purpose of enhancing & enabling successful participation in roles or
situations
o In various contexts/environments - home, school, workplace, community etc.
• Services purpose:
o Promoting health and wellness
▪ for disability & non-disability related needs
▪ via Habilitation – keep, improve, new occupations
& Rehabilitation – regain lost occupations
o Enabling engagement via adaptation/modification to or in environment
o Preservation of Occupational Identity (dynamic)
o To those who have or are at risk for developing
illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, and activity
limitation or participation restriction.
• OT addresses aspects of occupational performance:
o Physical,
o cognitive,
o psychosocial
• In variety of context to support engagement in everyday life activities that affect
health, well-being and quality of life.
• OT ensure patients get back into occupation
• Uses knowledge of transactional relationship btwn
Individual ↔ engagement ↔ environment/context
• Emphasis on occupational nature of human beings & NB of occupational identity
→ positive relationship btwn occupation &health
• OTs are:
o Are experts in occupation
o Enable occupation
o Promote health through occupation
o Enhance occupational performance
• Occupational Performance:
o ability to carry out activities of daily life – incl. activities in the area of daily
occupation
o doing of occupation in order to satisfy life needs
o ability to choose, organize and satisfactorily perform meaningful occupations
that are culturally defined and age appropriate for looking after one’s self,
enjoying life and contributing to the social and economic fabric of a
community
• Occupation:
o Everything that we do in life, including actions, tasks, activities, thinking and
being
o central aspect of the human experience and unique to each individual
o Engagement in occupation describes interaction of the individual with their
self-directed life activities
,Lyndsay Adamson Occupational Therapy 178 Notes
24964131
• Domain of Occupational Therapy
*Activities of daily living (ADLs)
*Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)
• Levels of the OT practitioner (levels of clinicians)
o Occupational Therapist (OT)
▪ more extensive training and education
▪ “professional”
▪ degree in SA / Masters in USA
o Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA).
▪ works under supervision
▪ “technical” level of practice
▪ two-year associates degree program
• What does the OT practitioner do?
o Works with clients of ALL ages and diagnosis.
o Goal of OT intervention: increase ability of client to participate in everyday
activities
• OT Practitioner’s interaction with the client
o Assesses existing performance, abilities, difficulties
o Set therapeutic goals
o Develop a plan
o Implement intervention to enable client to function better in world
o Advocate for client
o Make or modify equipment
o Provide hand-on experiences to help reengage in life.
o Records progress and communicate treatment specifics
(family, other professionals and insurance agencies)
o Guides person to actively participate in intervention
o Establish rapport (a relationship of mutual trust) with the client
→ therapeutic relationship has value and plays key role in intervention
• Occupational Therapy Process
, Lyndsay Adamson Occupational Therapy 178 Notes
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• “client” vs “patient”
o OT services provided to people in may different settings
∴Term used to those served varies depending on the setting.
o E.g., hospital or rehabilitation setting = patient
mental health facility or training center = client
some settings = resident / participant / consumer / by name
• Personality characteristics best suited for OT
o Desire to help others
o Genuinely like people
o Able to relate to both individuals and groups of people
o Appreciate diversity - Interest in working with people in diverse contexts
o Value people’s ability to change
o Creative thinkers who enjoy hands-on work
o Skilled problem solvers
o Ability to handle their own problems and feelings before trying to help others
o Emphasize with client, yet expect and demand effort from them
o A strong constitution – exposure to many medical problems in the field (open
wounds, generative diseases
o Interest in teaching clients (education and instruction of clients and caregivers
a key component of our job)
o Flexibility and adaptability
o Commitment and dedication are important
o Good communication skills
o Knowledge of biology and physiology, psychology and or sociology
• Kind of people served and kind of problems addressed
o Mandate of OT to help clients engage in occupations
∴ recipients of OT = people w/ problems interfere with their ability to function
o The range of problems (functional disabilities) include
▪ genetic,
▪ neurological,
▪ orthopedic,
▪ musculoskeletal,
▪ immunological and cardiac dysfunction
▪ psychological, social and behavioral, emotional disorders
o Diverse group of human beings
o All ages (infants to elders)
o Clients with physical, psychological, and/or psychosocial impairments, which
may be the result of an accident, trauma, disease, conflict of stress, social
deprivation delays or congenital anomalies (birth defects)
• Kinds of settings = ANYWHERE relevant to occupational performance
o Hospitals
o Clinics
o Schools
o Clients’ homes
o Community settings
o Prisons
o Non-government organizations
o *Inpatient settings
o *Outpatient settings
o *Acute care settings
o *Rehabilitation settings
