Occupational Therapy Areas Preparation PDF

**Paediatrics:** [Purpose:] A paediatric occupational therapist aims to develop the necessary skills to fulfil life and reach developmental milestones. This is done by facilitating confident participation and engagement in life, including their occupations and roles. Collaborating with families to...

**Paediatrics:** [Purpose:] A paediatric occupational therapist aims to develop the necessary skills to fulfil life and reach developmental milestones. This is done by facilitating confident participation and engagement in life, including their occupations and roles. Collaborating with families to understand their child\'s needs and providing strategies plays a big role in maximising participation, engagement and performance in occupations of daily living. [Unique aspects:] - Developmental milestones, motor skills, language, social behaviours - Family-centred care - Under age of 18 [Priority occupations:] - ADL's: - Self carte -- learning how to do self-care, toileting, brushing teeth, tying shoelaces - Education- engagement in learning in a more effective way - Play and social participation -- essential for cognitive, social and emotional development [Health conditions:] - Autism - Adhd - Cerebral palsy - Down syndrome - Learning disabilities **Hand therapy:** [Purpose:] An occupational therapist-in-hand therapy aims to improve hand function in clients following injuries to the upper limb, specifically fine motor movements, and to maximise participation, engagement and performance in occupations of daily living. This is mainly an individualised client-centred approach. [Unique aspects:] - Specialised in specific body regions (upper limb) - Focused on recovery not development - Making splints, custom made to the patient - Working with lower limb if needed - Work more with plastic surgeons than other areas [Priority occupations and why:] - Adapting activities of daily living for the clients - self-care- being able to complete self-care independently within the limitations of upper limb injury, like toileting, brushing teeth, dressing - some priority occupations for clients may be working which includes tasks like typing, manual handling etc - Leisure activities like sports are used to maintain physical and social participation and performance. [Health conditions:] - Broken bones - Burns - Scars management - Carpal tunnel - Tennis elbow **Mental health:** [Purpose:] Occupational therapy in mental health aims to help consumers engage in needs and wants in leisure, self-care, and productivity. The aim is to allow the consumer to maximise participation, performance and engagement while experiencing mental health symptoms. An occupational therapist has a large counselling role in this area. This can be seen in community-based settings, which follow the consumer in the real world, breaking down tasks and adapting them step by step, or acute-based settings, which focus on monitoring and modifying the environment within the hospital setting like relaxed spaces. [Unique aspects:] - Mental Health Act, give authority to treat the consumer when they refuse to accept help in unsafe settings - Recovery model, the consumer gets to choose their own recovery [Priority occupations and why:] - Activities of daily living, what the consumer wants and needs to do - Depends on the environment you are meeting the consumer, Community-based occupations or acute settings - Self-care- managing routines and engagement - Work and productivity- engagement and routines - Leisure -- engagement and enjoyment - Sleep and rest - routines and effective restoring energy and help reduce symptoms [Health conditions:] - Depression - Anxiety - Psychosis - Eating disorder - Personality disorder **Workplace rehab:** [Purpose: ] An occupational therapist in workplace rehab aims to help workers recover from injuries or illnesses that impact their ability to work and facilitate a safe and effective return to work. This can be achieved by promoting health and well-being within the workplace and making routines or modifying job tasks or the workplace environment to maximise participation, engagement and performance. We also look into the worker\'s personal and environmental factors impacting their life [Unique aspects:] - Functional capacity evaluation - Ergonomic focused - Worksite assessment - Job tasks analysis, potential risks and barriers - Heavily work with stakeholders like employers, doctors, physio, insurer - Work with workers long term [Priority occupation:] - Work and productivity tasks - Physical endurance, gradual return to work in smaller time increments to not tire the worker out - Time management: some tasks may take longer to complete now with the injury, so creating a new routine with lenient time management embedded. - Leisure and self care -- get ready in the morning, transport to work [Health conditions]: - Musculoskeletal - Post-surgery injuries - Mental health - Chronic pain - Disability **Physical Rehab:** [Purpose:] An occupational therapist in physical rehab aims to help clients maximise participation, engagement and performance while experiencing a chronic condition or an injury. The focus varies depending on the individual, their personal goals and the long-term impact on their daily activities. can be done in community-based settings like the home adapted with assisted technology or in a hospital setting. [Unique aspects:] - Holistic approach - Less specialised, whole-body injuries - Focus on the functional goal rather than restoring function - Integration on mental health [Priority occupations and why:] - Take care of yourself first, basic ADLs like self-care or change or adapt occupation or environment that enable engagement, then think about other activities like mobility and returning to work - Use of assisted technology to adapt occupations [Health conditions:] - Spinal cord injury - Falls - Hip injuries and replacements - Arthritis - Amputation - Burns **Neuroscience:** [Purpose:] An occupational therapist in neuroscience aims to advocate, address, and determine if we can provide adaptations to help enhance the functional ability and quality of life of individuals with either acquired or neurodegenerative conditions or injuries. Acquired conditions focus on a rehabilitation approach that usually facilitates maintaining their function and improving others, maximising occupational performance, participation and engagement. Neurodegenerative conditions focus on adapting and changing the occupation or environment to provide more support. This follows a compensatory approach that supports clients to grade down and adapt to their daily living activities. [Unique conditions:] - Working with patients for a long period of time, usually 3 months - Patient conditions get worse no matter what you do [Priority occupations:] - Self--care- cognitive factors to consider eg forget how to shower - What is difficult for patient and think about life in general - Leisure- help them in participation of activities they do in their spare time [Health conditions:] [Acquired:] - Stroke - Traumatic brain injury, motorcycle crash [Neurodegenerative:] - [Parkinson's ] - [Alzheimer's ] **Gerontology:** [Purpose:] An occupational therapist in gerontology aims to help older adults improve their engagement, quality of life and participation in meaningful occupations. It focuses on addressing physical, cognitive, motor, sensory and psychological factors and the challenges of aging. Gerontology\'s goal is to enhance the experience of ageing by ensuring that older adults can live a fulfilling, active life for as long as possible with gradually changing and adapting to their environment over time. [Unique conditions:] - Works with family to support the patient with end-of-life care - Higher importance on occupational engagement rather than performance - Have staff members to assist them - Strong emphasis on preventative care [Priority occupations:] - Depends on the context of the individual - Try to enable clients to complete their ADL's - Self-care, bathing, dressing and grooming, which maintain autonomy and dignity - Mobility- walking, exercising - Social engagement and leisure- activities that create relationships and hobbies to provide enjoyment [Health conditions:] - Chronic health conditions - Falls - Stroke - Dementia - Hearing and vision impairment - Heart disease **Grading up and down:** - Time - Frequency - Steps **Environmental adapting:** - Someone do for them - adding equipment **Personal adapting:** - Sitting down - Opposite hand