At a Glance:
- An Occupational Therapist (OT) is an Allied Health professional specialising in helping people with limitation or impairment engage in the occupations of life
- These occupations are day to day tasks, ranging from feeding, clothing and bathing through to work and hobbies/leisure
- Due to the wide range of situations or conditions that may require the help of an OT, the field has a large number of specialisations, ranging from Paediatric Occupational Therapy to Occupational Justice
What is an Occupational Therapist (OT)?
Occupational Therapists work with people to overcome impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions, so that they can engage in the things in life that are meaningful/important to them. Occupational Therapists call these things occupations.
The scope of OT is extremely broad because they, like other allied health professionals, are in the business of looking after people. Humans are unique with different values, beliefs, motivations and goals. They complete tasks in different ways - one individual may dress for the day in pants and a dress shirt while another person wears a saree - and they live and engage in different environments; homes, schools, community spaces, workspaces, etc. To ensure holistic practice, OTs often consider how a client’s person, occupation and environmental aspects interact and influence their health, wellbeing and capacity to engage in their everyday occupations.
The Person
Occupational Therapists play a crucial role in helping people. This means working with individuals, families, groups, communities, organisations, and populations across of any age, from infants to the elderly.
OT’s often work with clients who:
- Have impairments of body structures or functions, such as vision, speech, upper and/or lower body movements, cognitive skills, etc
- Are limited in their ability to engage in specific activities
- Experience restrictions in their ability to participate in important life areas, such as community participation, social engagement, education or employment
- Are at risk of having these impairments, activity limitations or participation restrictions
Their Occupations
Occupational Therapists play a crucial role in helping people who wish to increase their satisfaction and performance on tasks/activities they need , want , or have to do in their daily life. These may include:
- Sleep quality and quantity
- Getting up and out of bed
- Managing emergency situations
- Caring for ourselves (personal hygiene)
- Caring for children or pets
- Getting out and about (dressing, driving/public transport, community activities)
- Personal hobbies
- Nourishing our bodies (grocery shopping and preparing food)
- Engaging with others (social skills, building and maintaining relationships)
- Tasks integral to education and work
Their Environments
OTs define the word "environment" as encompassing culture, institutions, the physical structure, layout or design of a building, as well as the other people who also occupy these spaces.
For this reason, OT’s often complete ‘home visits’ and comment on the accessibility and liveability of a person’s home environment to ensure they can continue to safely and independently stay in their home as they age.
Other environments OT’s work within may include:
- The community
- Tertiary health care facilities
Summary
Due to the broadness of services and needs, some OTs choose to concentrate on specific populations and clinical areas such as:
- Therapy and rehabilitation, such as skill building
- Assistive technology, such as one-handed aides, laundry trolleys, wheelchairs and the like
- Home modification
- Driving
- Aged care
- Oncology & Palliative care
- Occupational Justice
- Vision impairment
- Hands
- Burns & Vascular
- Mental health
- Neurology & Acquired Brain Injury
- Occupational Rehabilitation & Return to work
- Paediatrics
It's important to note that OTs also work within non-clinical roles such as leadership & management, as well as academia. This may include clinical leadership roles, supervision, service development, change management and career planning. This helps ensure the existing and upcoming OT workforce is supported and aligning with best practice client care.
When should I see an Occupational Therapist?
When someone is having problems performing everyday tasks, this may be a sign that they may need to see an Occupational Therapist. A referral from a GP is not required to see an OT in Australia, but without a referral there is no Medicare rebate available for OT fees.
With a referral from a GP, anyone with a valid Medicare number has access to five Medicare subsidised sessions with an Occupational Therapist with a rebate of $55.10 per session. If ongoing support is required, some private health insurance policies cover occupational therapy.
If you need to schedule an appointment to see an occupational therapist, the fastest and easiest way to search for and book healthcare appointments online is at MyHealth1st.com.au