What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy (OT) focuses on educating and treating the whole patient rather than treating a particular injury, ailment, or disability. An occupational therapist works with individuals across the lifespan supporting their patient’s engagement in meaningful activities and occupations that ultimately promote health, well-being, and life satisfaction. OT embeds activities and daily routines that are important to the patient into therapy sessions.
Occupational Therapists can help an adult patient:
- Dress and bathe independently
- Adapt their homes to be wheelchair accessible
- Manage stress
- Return to work
- Use their injured hands to work on a computer
- Plan a meal
- Do laundry or clean up around the house
Occupational Therapists can help a pediatric patient:
- Dress independently
- Feed themselves using utensils
- Write, cut and color
- Make friends and engage with siblings and classmates
- Manage stress and develop healthy habits
- Manage sensory differences
Who Needs Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapists work with clients across the lifespan with conditions such as:
- Arthritis and chronic pain
- Stroke
- Brain injury
- Hand injuries
- Joint replacement
- Low vision
- Poor balance
- Cancer
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cerebral palsy
- Developmental delay
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Sensory processing differences
- Social emotional needs
- Intellectual disabilities
- Attention deficit disorders
The Occupational Therapy Institute (OTI), the clinical facility for the Department of Occupational Therapy, recently opened for patient care. Located in West Oak Lane within The Eye Institute, OTI is Salus University’s newest clinical facility, joining The Eye Institute, Pennsylvania Ear Institute and Speech-Language Institute.
Services provided by OTI may include:
- Training in use of assistive devices, including raised toilet seats, shower chairs or wheelchairs
- Education on adaptive strategies for buttoning a shirt, tying shoes, getting in and out of the shower, and working on computer devices
- Education on fall prevention strategies including environmental modifications
- Improving balance, muscle strength, and coordination
- Medication management including organization and routine building
- Motor skill development for functional tasks like grasping a pencil or a utensil
- Training and education on sensory strategies throughout the day to help an individual feel calmer and regulated
If you or a loved one need occupational therapy services or more information contact OTI today.