#OTWeek2023
Occupational Therapy isn’t always understood and seen to add value. So we took some time out to ask our Occupational Therapists what occupation means to them and how Occupational Therapy plays a key role in recovery and rehabilitation.
Meet Mike who explains why you might need the services of an Occupational Therapist…
Occupational therapists like myself work with people who’ve had an injury or condition or illness to be able to get back to doing the things that they really want to do, and to be able to also maximise their independence in these meaningful activities.
So for example, I’ve worked with person who suffered a stroke and unfortunately had weakness to one side of their body and struggled with fatigue and different cognitive skills, such as concentration and memory. And they really wanted to get back to doing simple things that they used to be able to do, such as getting dressed and showered. And, so over a period of time, we worked on these activities and we looked at how to problem solve around the problems that she had, and we basically adapted certain tasks to make them easier. We looked at aids that we could use as well to simplify the activity for her, and over time she was able to develop skill and develop strength and develop her independence in this activity.
Definitely the best part of this role is working closely with people and seeing them overcome some of the difficulties that they had following their injury or their illness. Seeing that transformation of them being able to do things that they were not able to do before and that seemed totally impossible for them. How much it means to them and their loved ones is just simply priceless.