What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake
in people with arthritis?
• joint protection techniques
• work simplification / energy conservation techniques<
• prescription and provision of assistive equipment
• prescription and production of splints
• home modifications
• maintain range of movement and muscle strength
• education
• stress and pain management strategies
• relaxation techniques
• psychological support
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
people with burns?
• maximize personal independence in self-care, leisure and work
roles
• compensate for disabilities
• adjustment to injury through education and coping
strategies
• wound care
• scar management
• preventing loss of movement through splinting and exercises
• sensory retraining
• prescription of assistive equipment
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
children with medical
conditions?
• Assessing children's abilities in fine motor, gross motor and
perceptual skills.
• Teach techniques to improve school skills (e.g. pencil grasp,
posture, hand-writing & drawing)
• Teach children how to independently do daily activities (e.g.
dressing & feeding)
• Provide wheel chairs and other equipment required
• Create splints to improve the child's use of their hands
• Run fun activities for children who are very ill
• Health Promotion
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
communities?
• Consult the community to see what they see are the important
health problems to address
• Educate individuals and communities about healthier lifestyles
and behaviours (e.g. diet, exercise, stress management, and
balanced activities)
• Provide activities to assist people to take up healthier
lifestyles
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
working people?
• Visit workplace to assess safety hazards and risks
• Suggest changes to work locations, equipment and activities to
ensure that work can be completed safely
• Educate employers and workers about occupational health &
safety legislation, how this can be followed, and the consequences
for ignoring it
• Provide training in manual handling and other safe work
practices.
What roles do occupational therapists undertake in people
with mental
illnesses?
• Relaxation techniques
• Anger management
• Stress management
• Counseling
• Problem solving skill training
• Life skill training (e.g. budgeting, transport, cooking)
• Individual and group work
• Communication and social skills training
• Exploring leisure and recreation options
• Managing taking of medications
• Managing side-effects of medication
• Managing symptoms of illness
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
people with chronic
conditions?
• maximizing personal independence in self-care, leisure, and work
roles
• education on establishing routines and balancing daily
activities
• promotion of normal movement
• fine motor skills training
• compensate for disabilities
• prevention of deformity and spasticity
• maximizing personal independence
• compensate for disabilities
• home modification and environmental control systems
• management of perceptual, sensory, cognitive and behaviour
problems
• provision of slings and cushioning to support the shoulder
• wheelchair and transport training
• coping strategies to reestablish family, work, and leisure
roles
• discharge planning / advise
• social and psychological support
• referral to other services within the community
• splint prescription and production
What roles do occupational therapists undertake in people
with neurological
disorders?
• Equipment prescription and provision
• Training in use of equipment
• Issuing wheelchairs and training in use
• Modifying activities and tasks
• Individual and group activities
• Co-ordinate leisure and recreational activities
• Counseling
• Referrals to community services
• Addressing issues of physical comfort and health
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
people with operations or
amputations?
• maximize personal independence in self-care, leisure and work
roles
• improve joint motion and strengthen muscles
• prescription of assistive equipment and training
• massage and stump care
• coping strategies and psychological support
• home modification
• coping and relaxation strategies
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
people with pain?
• prevention of pain syndromes
• maximize personal independence in self-care, leisure and work
roles
• compensate for disabilities
• heat treatments
• exercise programs
• electrical nerve stimulation
• massage and trigger point therapy
• movements and strengthening exercises
• stress and pain management strategies
• home modifications
• coping strategies
What roles do occupational therapists undertake in children
and adults with a terminal
illness?
• counseling
• relaxation techniques
• stress management
• pain management
• improving quality of life
• encouraging meaningful activities
• bereavement support for individuals, families and others
• providing home modifications and equipment
• facilitating sense of personal closure
• spiritual support
• facilitating carrying out of final wishes
• referring to community services and support groups
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
people with hand
injuries?
• Assessment
• Splinting, strapping
• Muscle strengthening / stretching, coordination, and fine motor
exercises
• Scar management, massage, wound care
• Prescription of adaptive equipment
• Coping strategies
• immobilize stabilize, or protect tissues
• optimal functional use
• substitute for paralyzed muscles
• correct deformity
What sort of roles do occupational therapists undertake in
people with physical
disabilities?
• Analyzing previous jobs of the worker, along with other jobs
within their workplace that they are interested in
• Liaising with insurance companies, employers and doctors about
the workers rehabilitation
• Assessing the workers abilities to do a variety of different
tasks (this may require observing them do a task or using
specialized equipment)
• Assisting the worker to relearn how to do a job despite their
injury or disability, and with minimal risk of re-injury
• Suggesting activities (e.g. exercise and healthy diet) to reduce
the impact of the injury to prepare the worker to return to a
job
• Providing evidence in courts for workers compensation claims