April is Occupational Therapy (OT) Month! We hear it all the time: “I am retired! I don’t have an occupation anymore, so why would I need OT?” Our residents might be retired, but OT is still beneficial.

Our residents may not have a 9-5 pm job that takes them out of the home anymore, but there are many daily activities that feed into vocational wellness that Occupational Therapy addresses every day.

One of the goals of OT is to promote independence in functional abilities. Here are just a few of the many ways our OTs and COTAs help residents every day:

• Fine Motor Skills – Maintain dexterity and improve grip strength. Make things like sewing, cleaning, or handwriting easier.
• Visual Assistance – Perform at the top of your abilities by learning about assistance for visual challenges.
• Environmental Modifications – Are our residents’ homes as safe as possible? What about when they travel to volunteer, participate in group activities, etc.? OT can help with environmental modifications to help our residents stay safe.
• Assistive Devices and Adaptive Equipment – Did you know simple devices exist, like grab bars and reacher tools, to help make tasks easier to complete? There are also more complex resources, such as voice-activated technology, to help with making lists, medication reminders, etc.

Of course, the list above is not all-encompassing of the scope and skill sets of our fantastic OTs and COTAs. If you are a PT/PTA/ST/DOR, find your OTs and COTAs and thank them for the work that they do every day. Their hard work is a huge part of what makes our teams successful in helping our residents return to or maintain the highest quality of life!

Thank you to all of our OTs and COTAs across the country!

April is Occupational Therapy Month! This year’s theme is “Occupational Therapy Brings Possibilities to Life.”

Occupational Therapy (OT) is an ever-evolving field. OT can be traced back to 100 BC when Greek physicians treated patients for mental or emotional disorders with massage, music, baths, and exercise. The 1800s led to patients recovering from Tuberculosis being treated while hospitalized. Later, WW1 transformed Occupational Therapy into a field of practice with the focus on soldiers resuming daily living activities after injuries. 

Occupational Therapy has continued to evolve into a field that improves the lives of people struggling with physical and/or mental impairments through holistic approaches. 

Occupational Therapy strives to improve patient engagement, leisure, and safety with daily activities through movement, adaptations, and modification of activities and environments. Occupational therapists and occupational therapist assistants provide care in a variety of locations to include adult settings like hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health or outpatient, academic, workplace, and pediatric areas of focus such as early childhood intervention, schools, outpatient facilities, and hospitals.

Did you know? Occupational Therapist ranked #10 in Best Health Care Jobs in 2021 by U.S. News and World Report!

Here is what a couple of our FP therapists have to say about Occupational Therapy:

• Why did you choose the field of Occupational Therapy?

“I believe we are called to make this world a better place every day with our actions and our attitudes. Three ways that we accomplish this is through love, empathy, and quality. Being an occupational therapist, I have the privilege of displaying all three of these traits daily. It begins with creating an atmosphere of love for every individual that I encounter and every individual that I have the privilege to lead. It continues with showing every client/patient empathy for their situations as if they were my own family. It is finalized with displaying the highest quality possible with my interventions and care. ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ I hope to embody that quote every single day.”  – Eric Walker, OTR/L, Director of Rehab, Functional Pathways

• What is the craziest treatment you have ever done with a resident to meet a goal?

“I have had some interesting treatments! I have taken people to funerals, movies, home assessments, worked on driving their car, bowling, cooking, sewing, holding their grandbaby, changing diapers, swimming, dancing, and all of it seems normal after the fact. But there is always a time when someone asks you to teach them something you have never done before. My initial response is normally a funny face with a deer in the headlights look, but then I ponder and say, ‘If you’re game to try this, I am up for the challenge.’  I am honored to be included, and patients that have faith in me to try anything. I want to learn what they love, or what they need to do, and figure out how to make it happen.”  – Courtney Ruiz, COTA, Director of Rehab, Functional Pathways

“Medicine adds days to lives, occupational therapy adds life to days.”

OTs use their knowledge of the structure and function of the human body and the effects of illness and injury to increase your involvement in daily activities.  OTs teach individuals how to manage stress and fatigue and prevent re-injury.  They are also the experts in home safety and fall prevention and can advise on environmental modifications or improvements. 

During therapy sessions, OTs will also work with the wellness and activities department to determine the best programs after your therapy is completed. This may include specific exercise classes and events, personal training, home exercise programs, or a combination of these services. Therapy partners with other departments to ensure you are engaging in the most appropriate and effective exercises and programming possible.

Eric Walker is the Director of Rehab for Functional Pathways at Kirby Pines, and he is also an Occupational Therapist. He was asked why he chose this field. “When thinking about what attracted me to the field of occupational therapy, I must relate it to my values and my Christianity. I believe we are called to make this world a better place every day with our actions and our attitudes. Three ways that we accomplish this is through love, empathy, and quality. Being an occupational therapist, I have the privilege of displaying all three of these traits daily. It begins with creating an atmosphere of love for every individual that I encounter and every individual that I have the privilege to lead. It continues with showing every client/patient empathy for their situations as if they were my own family. It is finalized with displaying the highest quality possible with my interventions and care. When I learned that I would be able to exhibit these traits daily, I knew this was a career that I wanted to be in for a while. To sum up my feelings for occupational therapy and with healthcare in general, I’m reminded of this quote. ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ I hope to embody that quote every single day.”  –Eric Walker, OTR/L, Director of Rehab, Functional Pathways

For more information on occupational therapy and how it can benefit you, please contact the Functional Pathways Therapy Team.