Occupational Therapy: Helping Patients Help Themselves

By Jessica Santina
jessica.santina@careertrainingdirectory.com
Career Training Directory Columnist

Every day you perform tasks that seem simple and automatic, like driving or cooking. But for those who suffer from brain injuries, disabling illnesses like Alzheimer’s or stroke, blindness, loss of limb, or a developmental disorder, these tasks can seem overwhelming.

Thanks to those working in occupational therapist jobs, millions of people who suffer from such conditions have learned to accomplish extraordinary tasks and reclaim their self-sufficiency.

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy is about helping patients overcome the mental or physical obstacles that impede their ability to perform basic life and work tasks. Occupational therapists encounter patients with long- or short-term physical, mental, developmental, or emotional disabilities, and are responsible for developing strategies to help them recover or develop crucial skills.

In order to help patients meet the challenges of daily life, occupational therapists assess patients’ living situations and create a recovery and maintenance plan. They may instruct patients on the use of adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs, and they may devise special equipment and adaptive strategies for home or work.

Careers in Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists work in hospitals, home health care settings, doctors’ offices, nursing care facilities, or schools, treating anyone from the very young to the very old. As the Baby Boomer population ages and the rate of stroke, heart attack, or other illness increases, there will be great demand for occupational therapists. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that occupational therapist jobs will increase much faster than average through 2014. The median annual salary for an occupational therapist is around $58,000.

Occupational therapy assistants will also be in demand. While occupational therapists are required, as of 2007, to complete at least a master’s degree, occupational therapy assistants need only complete an associate degree or certificate, as well as pass a national certification exam. They work under occupational therapists’ direction to guide patients through rehabilitative exercises, monitor and record patients’ progress, and provide support throughout the process. The median annual salary for occupational therapy assistants in 2004 was $38,430.

The greatest reward of an occupational therapist’s job, of course, is watching patients overcome tremendous odds to regain independence and live a full, happy life.

Sources

“Occupational Therapists,” Bureau of Labor Statistics
“Occupational Therapist Assistants and Aides,” Bureau of Labor Statistics

About the Author

Jessica Santina is a freelance writer with a background in media and promotions. She also teaches first-year writing courses at the University of Nevada, Reno.