Occupational Therapy is a profession aimed at optimising a person’s function in their lives, whether at home or in the community.
“Occupational therapy is as a 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. It does this by using specific activities to enable people to do things that will enhance their ability to participate, or by modifying the physical environment to better support participation.”
Occupational Therapy Australia, www.otaus.com.au
An Occupational Therapist (OT) works with people to enable them to achieve greater independence in doing things which are important to them, such as
- getting out and about, such as entering and exiting their house, and participating in community activities, for example, shopping
- participating in social and leisure activities
- engaging in work and study
- managing their lives better
- participating in home-based activities such as showering, dressing, preparing a meal, eating, or doing the gardening
Caitlin Hodnett (OT) from Healthy Collaboration use person centred principles to inform practice. This involves respecting clients, informing them, and enabling them to become active partners in the occupational therapy process. An important element of Healthy Collaboration is to set goals with clients, based on collaborative exploaration of issues impacting client’s performance.
Through my Masters of Occupational Therapy research I identified that client goals contribute to their hope for a new future, and provides the OT with direction for the addressing the issues (a rehabilitation plan). Both hope and direction in rehabilitation contributes to clients having an inceased knowledge about their own limitations and capabilities which in turn results in clients and therapists better working together and knowing their roles in rehabilitation. Setting client goals contributes to clients returning to an ‘adapted’ normal life, such as doing ‘new’ things, or doing ‘old’ things differently.
Caitlin Hodnett works in clients homes and uses innovative approaches in developing the solutions provided to enable increased function for her clients who are experiencing limitations arising from illness, injury or disability. This is achieved through the provision of treatment, equipment prescription, home modification, education and /or advice.