What is Occupational Therapy, and How Can You Benefit From It?
One of the biggest challenges of growing older is losing the ability to perform everyday tasks. Being unable to write, run, or even walk properly can be frustrating and embarrassing. Luckily, there's a highly effective method that can help restore your functionality — occupational therapy.
We'll cover the basics of occupational therapy and list some of its main benefits.
What is occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy (OT) assesses individuals and helps them develop, maintain, or recover meaningful independence. It's performed by occupational therapists and their assistants to aid people with disabilities, impairments, injuries, or mental health issues.
The type of OT that a person undergoes will vary according to their needs. For instance, a teenager with scoliosis will receive different procedures than an elderly individual with Parkinson's.
But in general, OT services include:
Individualized evaluation helps occupational therapists determine the patient's health goals.
Personalized intervention to enhance the individual's ability to carry out daily activities.
Outcome evaluation to change the intervention plan and ensure those goals are met.
How can people gain from occupational therapy?
Occupational therapy can work wonders for a variety of patients owing to its thorough approach. Here are some of its most significant benefits:
Improved range of motion
Strokes, arthritis, and surgery can severely reduce movement in the joints. Rehabilitation specialists work with patients to enhance range of motion with a wide array of techniques:
Active range of motion: Individuals perform joint movements unassisted.
Passive range of motion: Therapists stimulate movement to help people make small joint-related actions.
Proper body position: Increasing joint mobility by decreasing gravity resistance while lying down.
Decreasing pain and building strength
Incorrect body positioning can contribute to increased pain. OT can make patients aware of this and instruct them on how to overcome their challenges. For instance, guided exercises and stretching techniques can improve joint movement to reduce pain and help you use your extremities for daily activities.
Adaptive strategies and equipment
Adaptive strategies are methods that help individuals adjust to perform regular tasks. One of the most effective strategies is energy conservation. As the name suggests, it helps save energy for essential activities and combats excessive fatigue. It's beneficial for patients with cardiac disease who often experience rapid exhaustion.
Furthermore, OT provides people with valuable adaptive equipment. These devices assist patients in performing various tasks with greater comfort. Two popular examples include shower chairs and jar openers.
Polishing visual skills
Vision changes may occur after a stroke, brain injury, or eye disease. These issues can leave blind spots in their field of vision, affecting a person's reading or mobility.
OT offers several visual adaptive services. For instance, pre-reading and scanning strategies can significantly improve your overall experience and performance when reading.
Do you need occupational therapy?
We have discussed some of the main benefits of occupational therapy. Don't hesitate to get in touch with an experienced occupational therapist to improve your health and wellbeing.
If you are looking for occupational or physical therapy, vestibular rehab, wheelchair training, learning to walk, unweighting aquatic therapy, or other services in the Phoenix area, please call Touchstone Rehabilitation at 602-277-1073.