Occupational therapy is a form of therapy which encourages rehabilitation through the use of daily activities. An occupational therapist is a professional who evaluates and treats individuals of all ages who have difficulty participating in meaningful activities relevant to their everyday life. Occupational therapy looks at you, your environment, your needs, and your social supports to create an approach that will help you live life to its fullest. Occupational therapy can provide training for the use of assistive devices to maintain independence after an injury or surgery, assists individuals with chronic medical conditions stay as productive and healthy as possible, develop interventions for children to meet important developmental milestones, and provide patient education to increase safety within the home.
During the aging process, individuals often have increased difficulty when participating in daily activities following an injury, surgery, or newly diagnosed medical condition. An occupational therapist is able to train individuals with adaptive devices to increase patient’s ability to complete self-care tasks and activities around the home; energy conservation training; use modalities to treat a painful condition; and provide exercises for rehabilitation after an injury.
The focus of occupational therapy is to promote participation in meaningful activities throughout the life span. Children’s lives are made up of occupations including playing, learning at school, interacting with friends, and other daily activities that are not given a lot of thought until a child is unable to engage in those activities. Occupational therapy provides support for children to help children reach developmental milestones, improve fine motor control needed for the development of handwriting skills, and increase independence with activities of daily living.
At Memorial Hospital Therapy and Sports Rehab Center we provide occupational therapy services at the hospital and at outpatient clinic for patients across the life span; from pediatric to youth, to adult, and on to geriatric.