Occupational Therapy

 

Occupational Therapy is defined as the therapeutic use of everyday life activities (occupations) with individ­uals or groups for the purpose of enhancing or enabling participation in roles, habits, and routines in home, school, workplace, community, and other settings (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2014). The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate successfully in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists (OTs) achieve this outcome by enabling people to do things that will enhance their ability to live meaningful lives or by modifying the environment to better support participation (World Federation of Occupational Therapists [WFOT], 2012).

 

Areas of Occupation

• Activities of Daily Living (bathing and showering, toileting and toilet hygiene, dressing, eating, feeding, functional mobility, personal device care, personal hygiene and grooming)

• Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (communication management, community mobility, money management, health management and maintenance, home establishment and management, meal preparation and clean-up, religious and spiritual activities and expression, safety and emergency maintenance, shopping)

• Rest and Sleep

• Education/School Participation

• Work

• Play and Leisure

• Social Participation

 

Reference: American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domains and Process. (3rd ed.).American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 68 (Suppl.1), S1–S48

 

Specific Interventions

• Behavior Management

• Sensory Processing Intervention

• Social Skills Training

• Fine Motor Skills Training

• Handwriting Intervention

• Self-care Training

• IADL Training

• Play and Leisure Intervention

• Prevocational/Vocational Training

• Environmental Modification

• Parent/Caregiver Training