The Top Doctors Specializing in OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY in VA

Occupational therapy (OT) is an allied health profession that involves the therapeutic use of everyday activities, or occupations, to treat the physical, mental, developmental, and emotional ailments that impact a patient’s ability to perform day-to-day tasks. As such, an occupational therapist is a practitioner who uses therapeutic techniques to improve, rehabilitate, or maintain a patient’s ability to perform everyday activities. Occupational therapy differs from other healthcare professions like physical therapy or nursing in its focus on treating the whole patient, rather than treating a particular injury, ailment, or disability. For example, after a surgery a nurse might assist a patient with pain management, dressing changes, and care during recovery. An occupational therapist, on the other hand, will assess the activities that are important to the patient and teach them how to become independent again following the surgery, so that they can resume the roles that define who they are. Occupational therapists work with their patients by taking a therapeutic approach to everyday activities. Broadly, this means that occupational therapists are responsible for helping patients develop, recover, improve in regards to a condition or injury, as well as maintain the skills needed to execute daily activities. In general, OTs are responsible for a wide range of duties and tasks related to patient care. Depending on the setting in which they work, the roles of an OT often include: evaluating a patient’s condition and needs, developing treatment plans to address a patient’s needs and help them meet specific goals, assessing a patient’s home and/or work environment and recommending adaptations to fit the patient’s needs and improve independence, training patients and their caregivers to use special equipment, and assess and document progress for evaluation, billing, and reporting purposes. The day-to-day activities that occupational therapists take part in will also likely be influenced by the settings in which they work. Many occupational therapists work in hospital or private practice settings, however, there are many opportunities to work in other environments. For example, some practitioners work in educational settings to assist in child development or with the elderly to lessen the struggles that come along with aging. Those with an entrepreneurial spirit may even choose to open and manage their own private practice.