What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupations include all the activities that you want and need to do in order to live and enjoy your life. These include:

·                self care (personal care and mobility or how you get around);

·                productivity (employment, homemaking and for children - play); and

·                leisure (hobbies, sports and social activities).  

 

Who is an Occupational Therapist?

Occupational Therapists (OTs) are health professionals who are trained at the university level. They are required to pass a National Certification Examination and in Ontario must be registered with the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (COTO).

 

What do Occupational Therapists do?

Occupational Therapists use a client centred and evidence based approach along with clinical reasoning to assist clients with improving their function and developing their skills for the job of living.

 

What does this mean? In simpler terms, this means that an Occupational Therapist looks at the big picture. They consider the whole person, the environment they function in, the supports they have in their life, what they need to do in a day, as well as the client’s individual situation, what is important to them and their values. Occupational Therapist’s combine the best current evidence and practice with their professional judgment and knowledge to help clients perform the activities they need to do in a day.

 

The process involves evaluation and assessment of the client followed by suggestions and treatments (also called interventions). These treatments are designed to improve occupational performance which is also known as a client’s ability to do the day to day tasks they need and want to do. The ultimate goal is to help each person return to the meaningful activities they participated in before their injury or illness or to help them develop new activities to participate in.

 

We Offer A Variety of Different Occupational Therapy Services

  

Assessments and Analyses:

We offer the following assessments and analyses:

 

• In Home Assessments and Activities of Normal Living Assessments and Evaluation of Housekeeping and Home Maintenance, and Caregiver Assessment Needs

These are in-depth assessments that look at how a client is managing with their day to day personal and home care tasks after an accident or illness. These assessments help determine whether a client requires assistance with Housekeeping and Home Maintenance activities such as grocery shopping, preparing meals, laundry, and housekeeping. Caregiver assessment needs determine whether a client requires assistance with any childcare or other caregiver tasks they performed prior to the accident. Typically an assessment lasts between 2-3 hours and generally takes place in the client’s home environment. Recommendations may include assistive devices, adaptive strategies, mobility aids, or education sessions.

 

• Attendant Care Needs Assessment (Form 1)

This is a form unique to the automobile insurance industry. It is completed after a motor vehicle accident to determine whether a client requires assistance with personal care, requires supervision, or requires assistance with complex health care needs as a result of their injuries. If possible this assessment takes place in the client’s home.

           

• Hospital Discharge Assessments

This involves meeting with the client and their family to help organize a plan to create a safe discharge environment for the client following a motor vehicle accident. This may include recommending equipment and assistive devices to use in the home and an education session on how to use them safely.

 

• Home Safety Assessments

Home safety assessments carried out using a health outcome measure or tool called the Safety Assessment of Function and the Environment for Rehabilitation (SAFER).This assessment is ideal for identifying in home risk factors for elderly clients or adults with disabilities.

Chiu, T., Oliver, R., Marshall, L., & Letts, L. (2001). Safety Assessment of Function and the Environment for Rehabilitation Tool Manual. Toronto, ON: COTA Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Mental Health Services

 

• Cognitive and Perceptual Assessments

Cognitive and perceptual assessments look at how the client is managing with their thinking processes. Cognitive processes include things like memory, comprehension, reasoning, and judgement, Perceptual processes looks at how a client is recognizing and interpreting sensory input. These assessments are an important part of the driver assessment program.

 

• Worksite Assessments

            This assessment involves meeting with the client and their employer at their worksite following a motor vehicle or work related accident. The occupational therapist takes an in-depth look at the tasks the client is required to perform and the client’s current level of functioning. If possible, strategies and modifications are suggested to enable the client to return to their pre-injury level of function.  

 

• Driver Assessment Program

            View details under our Driver Assessment Program

 

• Physical Demands Analyses (PDA’s)

            View details under our Ergonomic Consulting services

 

• Ergonomic Risk Assessments

            View details under our Ergonomic Consulting services

 

• Functional Abilities Evaluations (FAE’s)

            View details under our Kinesiology Consulting services

 

Interventions/treatments

We offer the following interventions/treatments depending on a client’s needs:

 

• Basic Mobility Devices

We are able to provide recommendations for appropriate wheelchairs, seating and mobility aids.

 

• Assistive Devices

We are able to provide recommendations for the use of appropriate assistive devices to aid in daily tasks at home and in the workplace.

 

• Return to Activities of Daily Living

            We are able to provide recommendations for the use of appropriate strategies to facilitate a client’s return to performing their regular activities of daily living following an accident, illness or injury

 

• Education Sessions

We are able to provide education session on many topics including:

 

o          Using Assistive Devices – information on how to use recommended assistive devices safely and appropriately.

o         Pacing Activities & Energy Conservation – information on how to pace your activities and organize your life so that you have the energy for the things you want and need to do.

o         Memory and Cognitive Strategies – information and cognitive strategies on how to organize your life to compensate for decreased memory or other cognitive issues.

o         Task Modification – information on how to modify and adapt your daily tasks to conserve energy, manage pain and make daily life easier.

o         Falls Prevention – information on how to prevent slips and falls at home, work and outdoors.

o         Home Safety – information and recommendations on how to stay safe while in your own home. For instance the use of night-time lighting.

o         Stress Management and Relaxation Training – information and strategies to help you manage your stress and learn to relax. For instance you might learn deep breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation.

o         Sleep Hygiene –strategies and tips on how to create a functional and restful environment for sleeping.

o         Caregiver Education – information on how to safely care for a family member or friend.

 

• Chronic Pain Management Program

  

• Home Modification Consultation  

Information on how to modify your home environment to make it more accessible to accommodate people who use wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility aids

 

• Return to Work and Work Hardening Programs

This program is based on the client’s individual needs in consultation with their employer. It takes into account the client’s current functioning and the demands of their job. The client is supervised and guided through a gradual and graded return to regular duties, based on their functional abilities. The client may be provided with education, strategies, assistive devices and recommendations for modifying their work environment.

 

 

 

1.    What is involved in an Occupational Therapy Assessment?

Occupational therapists consider the whole person during an assessment. They consider a person’s physical and cognitive (mental/emotional) functioning and how this affects (impacts) their ability to carry out day to day activities.

 

An OT may:

·         assess what you are able and not able to do physically by looking at range of motion, strength, coordination and balance as you perform daily activities.

 

·         assess your memory, your coping strategies, your organizational ability as well as the family and community supports you have in your life. 

 

·         look at your home, work and social environments to assess how effectively you are interacting with your various occupational environments.

 

·         look at what furniture, tools, materials and other items you use daily to participate in your occupations.

 

2.    How will Occupational Therapy help me?

Whether you need assistance as a result of injury, illness, the natural aging process or your environment, Occupational Therapists can help you to:

·         find a different way of doing things;

·         help maintain the function you have;

·         adapt the equipment you use;

·         change your environment;

·         manage pain, fatigue and stress caused by injury or disease

·         prevent injuries through the use of adaptive equipment or modifying your environment.