What is occupational therapy?

Occupational Therapy is a health profession that focuses on getting individuals and groups of all ages, genders, backgrounds, to living as independently as possible through the use of activities. The work of occupational therapists is extremely broad across many different contexts which include: clinical work in hospitals, community health, private health, health promotion, education, learning difficulties, insurance, consulting, teaching and advising. Occupational Therapists look at all facets of a person in terms of their physical, cognitive, psychological, and spiritual areas to ensure that they can function in activities in ways that best suit and enable them.

Here is a definition by the World Federation of Occupational Therapy (WFOT).

“Occupational Therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational Therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement” (WFOT 2012)

I have also written various blog posts on this website about how activities are used to assist people to health and wellbeing, so have a read in the blog section.