As a human beings, we each have the ability to do things on our own volition, but there may be unexpected events and accidents that may happen to us to lose that ability. Simple physical abilities like doing everyday chores and manual work can be lost through certain circumstances, but there are ways to regain that ability.
People age, and it comes with our slowly failing health. Some people may lose their ability to walk or speak if they suffered from a stroke. Others may become paralyzed from the waist down if they have been in an accident. It is important that we provide enough options for them to be rehabilitated if they want to, and thankfully with modern technology, we able to come up with ways to help them through therapy.
Occupational therapy is an intervention to rehabilitate or recover, develop, and maintain meaningful activities. These activities or occupations of individuals are significant for their everyday activities. Rehabilitation of an individual’s skills and abilities, however, requires professionals and tools. Good thing, there are a number of therapists and occupational therapy equipment in Australia that can help you.
OT vs PT
Occupational therapy (OT) is different from physical therapy (PT), but oftentimes, people get confused about the two. Occupational therapy focuses on a person or patient’s ability to perform activities used for daily living, while physical therapy works on improving the person or patient’s ability to perform movement of the human body.
OTs help their patients to regain abilities in performing day-to-day tasks. Patients who seek OTs may be recovering from injuries or may have developmental or cognitive disabilities affecting their motor skills, emotions, or behavior. Occupational therapists may perform rehabilitation in an office, clinic, nursing facilities, or at a hospital.
Other things that occupational therapists do:
- They support patients dealing with memory loss and other cognitive issues. Their patients may have encountered an injury or health condition that resulted in memory loss. Memory loss not only affects the memories of a person, but it can also affect the motor skills and abilities of a person.
- They also work with teachers and children in developing skills such as handwriting or computer use. They also assist in providing strategies to manage behaviors, as in children with special needs, to make it easier for them to learn and thrive in school.
- They help in the recommendation of adaptive equipment. They work with the patients and their families to help ensure their safety when they are at home by themselves or when someone is not looking after them. They help with the identification and purchase of equipment that a patient may need, such as wheelchairs, and bathroom safety devices.
- They also work with people with mental illness such as assisting people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders in managing their conditions so they can live independently at home or the community.
- In addition, they also help in advising contractors, designers, and architects when building spaces to accommodate the needs for patient’s accessibility.
Rehabilitation is important for people who have lost their abilities, it will boost their confidence as they will be able to adapt to the things that they were used to do. It also helps them manage their current condition without much need from anyone if they are living independently.