Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is a profession dedicated to assisting individuals in increasing their success and satisfaction when performing all occupations of life. Occupational therapists are professionals who assist individuals in creating a life where they actively participate in all activities they find meaningful – these can be needs such as dressing, bathing, toileting, or wants such as gardening, golfing, or playing bingo.
The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain & Process (3rd Edition) defines occupational therapy as:
“The therapeutic use of everyday life activities (occupations) with individuals or groups for the purpose of enhancing or enabling participation in roles, habits, and routines in home, school, workplace, community, and other settings” (AOTA, 2017).
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The American Occupational Therapy Association (2021) states:
“Occupational therapy is the only profession that helps people across the lifespan to do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities (occupations). Occupational therapy practitioners enable people of all ages to live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, and prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability.”
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Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines Occupational Therapy as:
“Therapy based on engagement in meaningful activities of daily life (such as self-care skills, education, work, or social interaction), especially to enable or encourage participation in such activities despite impairments or limitations in physical or mental functioning.”
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The Amputee Coalition of America (n.d.) defines Occupational Therapy as:
“The teaching of how to perform activities of daily living as independently as possible, or how to maximize independence in the case of disability.”
REFERENCES
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2017). Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and process (3rd ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(Supplement_1), S1–S48. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.682006
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2021). What is occupational therapy? https://www.aota.org/Conference-Events/OTMonth/what-is-OT.aspx
Amputee Coalition. (2008). Fact sheet: Limb loss definitions. https://www.amputee-coalition.org/resources/limb-loss-definitions/
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Occupational therapy. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occupational%20therapy