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Orthopedics => Poliomyelitis => Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy
INTRODUCTION
Occupational Therapy, paramedical treatment involving purposeful planned activity that promotes the recovery of individuals who are stricken with mental illness or physical disability, sometimes following accidents. It is administered by an occupational therapist under the direction of a doctor. Originally regarded as a way of filling the time of convalescent patients, occupational therapy has now become a programme of work activities specifically selected for its physical, mental, emotional, and vocational value.
The therapist's work is based on the doctor's statement of the patient's diagnosis, prognosis, personality, and physical and emotional limitations, as well as the objectives sought. Often, the therapist engages in a form of vocational rehabilitation in choosing activities that will teach new basic skills of daily living to those who never acquired them or who have lost them, as in the case of amputees or those otherwise recently physically disadvantaged. Additionally, in dealing with patients who have never been employed, who have held jobs requiring no skills, or who must change their type of work because of their acquired disability, the therapist may also engage in prevocational testing and guidance.
The trained therapist is versed in such activities as gardening, weaving, hand industries, music, various types of recreation and education, creative handicrafts such as clay modelling and leather tooling, and manual arts. After determining the patient's willingness to involve him- or herself in a given field, the therapist will employ one or more of these activities to create the desired result in a variety of ways. Whether dealing with people who are physically, emotionally, or chronically ill, elderly people, or children, the therapist works in two areas: the functional and the psychological.
FUNCTIONAL THERAPY
The occupational therapist assesses the patient's behaviour from the point of view of capacities and assets as well as of dysfunctions and disabilities. Functional therapy focuses on the functions and dysfunctions of the motor and nervous systems, and on how planned activity can best help to develop or re-establish sensorimotor and perceptual abilities. This is especially true when physical disability limits a person's activities in terms of daily care, leisure activity, and working. A programme of occupational therapy is individualized to maximize developing and re-establishing nervous or muscular coordination, extending the motion of joints, and strengthening muscles within the limits of the patient's physical tolerance. Functional therapy must also take into account the person's motivation to use activities in a therapeutic manner.
PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY
Whether the disability stems from a physical problem or mental illness, psychological rehabilitation of the patient is important. Occupational therapy focuses on the use of planned, purposeful activities to provide graded successes to the patient that will be helpful in overcoming lack of self-confidence, low self-esteem, difficulty coping with stress, and depression. Occupational therapy focuses on balancing work, play, and rest, on maximizing independent function, and on seeing the patient as a functioning individual and not as one with a disability.
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