Occ upational Therapy is a healthcare profession that focuses on independence
in everyday living. Our primary goal is to help people develop the skills needed
to participate in day to day activities when these activities are limited by
injury, illness, chronic disease states, mental health issues, developmental
delays or other health issues.
At the Child Development Center occupational therapists help children
succeed in their daily occupations. We help him or her achieve success at
school and at home. We often work on skills such as gross motor skills
fine motor skills, printing skills, play skills, and self-regulation skills. Therapy is
based on a multi-sensory play model. We use play to expand a child's skill set
for example when we work with the child with printing difficulties we don't just
sit at the table and print but we also participate in a variety of gross motor
and visual perceptual games that incorporate a kinesthetic approach to
learning how to print or if the child has difficulty sitting at the table we
provide the child with lots of movement and sensory experience to help organize
their neurological system so that they can then come to the table and work
Occupational therapists provide assessment, treatment and consultation to
patients in acute care. These patients may have experienced a sudden decline in
function due to their acute medical illness. Occupational therapists use a
client centered approach which focuses on identifying what the client needs
and wants to do. OTs may provide training and self-care
activities such as bathing and dressing with recommendations for safety
equipment or address cognitive and perceptual deficits, complete arm and
hand function exercises or provide falls prevention strategies. Occupational
therapists in acute care will consider a patient's discharge destination and
the need for adaptive equipment or modifications to facilitate maximal
safety and independence when they leave the hospital.
In the Hand Therapy Program at Michael Garron hospital, occupational therapists work with the hand and
plastics team to provide assessment and treatment of clients of all ages who
sustained acute hand injuries or require hand surgery. The main goal of
occupational therapy in the hand therapy program is to optimize hand function.
Hand function is vital to most of the everyday activities we perform such as
eating, getting dressed, typing, driving or participating in
sports. Any hand injury or impairment can limit our ability to participate in these tasks.
Occupational therapists employ a variety
of techniques and interventions to help clients return to their highest level of
function. These include patient education, activity
and exercise programs, fabrication of custom hand splints, adaptive equipment
recommendations, hydrotherapy and management of pain, swelling, wounds and scars.
The complex continuing care service covers a wide range of programs
including general complex continuing care
chronic ventilator assisted care, alternate level of care, inpatient
short-term rehab, palliative care, the memory care unit, and acute care of the elderly.
The OTs work across all of these areas. The focus is on improving
patient's independence with their activities of daily living. In the course
of the day the OT may assess cognition, check how patients manage their personal
care and setup patients with specialized wheelchairs.
OT's work with the interdisciplinary team to create safe discharge plans for
our patients recommending equipment and connecting them with appropriate
services in the community.
Occupational Therapists in mental health work within multidisciplinary
teams on the inpatient and outpatient mental health service, day treatment
program, aftercare program and the assertive community treatment team
occupational therapists use both a client centered and recovery oriented
approach to assist individuals, their families and groups to develop
meaningful goals in the areas of self-care, productivity, and leisure. The
primary goal is to increase an individual's ability to live as
independently as possible in the community while engaging in meaningful
and productive life roles. IInterventions may be targeted at building specific
skills these include skills needed for
independent living such as using community resources, managing one's home
and managing time. Additional areas of focus may include interpersonal and
social skills, leisure counseling, stress management and creative art OTS assume
OTs assume an active role in advocating for their clients.
At Michael Garron Hospital, occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants are members of the
interdisciplinary health care team and work across many areas in the
organization providing both inpatient and outpatient care