April is Occupational Therapy Month

April is Occupational Therapy Month! For awareness and appreciation, we will be posting all throughout this month about this awesome profession!

Occupational therapy is a profession that helps people across the lifespan do the things they want and need through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations). Occupational therapy practitioners enable people of all ages to live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, and prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability.

Common occupational therapy interventions include helping children with disabilities to participate fully in school and social situations, helping people recovering from injury to regain skills, and providing support for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes.

Occupational therapy practitioners have a holistic perspective of treatment. Their focus is on adapting the environment and/or task to best fit a person’s daily life. Occupational therapy is evidence-based practice deeply rooted in science.

Occupational therapy services commonly include:

· an individualized evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person’s goals,

· customized intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach the goals, and

· an outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan.