Occupational Therapy is a profession primarily centred around client-therapist interactions. The main objective of an occupational therapist (OT) is to empower and assist their clients in their return to everyday life and activities. Occupational therapists work with their clients for extended periods of time in order to ensure that they are able to participate in their normal daily routines with some degree of ease. OT's achieve this goal through building trust and rapport with their clients by representing themselves with the highest degree of professional identity and following the codes of conduct, to which ensures safety to all involved in the achievement of this goal. As occupational therapists work closely with a number of different …show more content…
There are two divisions of professional identity, one refers to how a company or organisation conducts their practice while the other refers to how the individual staff portrays themselves under the company's codes. An occupational therapist's professional identity is a crucial element within their practice as it enables them to "function in different practice settings" (Kielhofner, 2009, p.10) and connect to different types of clients that may arise within their practice. Professional identity can also be shaped by the social value of that profession, and thus guides the delivery of their health and human services. As occupational therapy is valued as a leading profession and is highly regarded, professionals in this discipline are required to present themselves in the same highly regarded fashion. This obliges them to dress not only neatly but also interact with their clients in a formal, educated and knowledgeable way, in order to reflect the disciplines professionalism. However, according to Kielhofner (2009), to practice occupational therapy, a professional identity is not enough. Occupational therapists require the knowledge, skills, and patience to understand, interpret and work with their clients to achieve a sense of ownership over their own life and actions. There are three distinct types of knowledge that influence an occupational therapist's …show more content…
These factors include displaying an appropriate professional identity, equipping yourself with the three different types of knowledge that ensure greater understanding of clients and acknowledging, accepting and abiding by the occupational therapy codes of conduct. It is the therapist's duty to be aware of these codes of conduct, as they are put in place to ensure safety for both therapists and patients, and to guide therapists on the standards that must be upheld when practicing occupational
They help them to regain, develop, and build everyday living and work skills that they have lost, or sometimes, never had. Their goal is to help their clients lead independent, productive, and satisfying lives. Being an occupational therapist can be a demanding job, both physically and emotionally. You must have a flexible work schedule, your schedule will have to fit in with the clients it can be very demanding. A therapist's interacts with all kinds of people newborn trough the elderly.
The theoretical format Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO), focuses on the individual, the environment, and the occupation. With the PEO format, we see the physical, social and cultural elements of where occupational therapy takes place (Scaffa, 2010, p.35). The PEO ties in person-environment interaction, person-occupation interaction, and the person-environment-occupation interaction (Scaffa, 2010, p. 36). The PEO is similar to that of the OT framework because the OT framework as well describes environment as having physical and social components. It mentions the social aspect of the environment that includes relationships and expectations with other individuals.
Occupational therapy provides assistance for those who are in need of assistance with daily living and work skills. These specialists work with people of various demographics to handle normal life challenges in a safe and healthy manner. How does occupational therapy work? The therapist determines what is important to the patient, and the obstacles preventing the patient from enjoying these aspects of life.
The Authors of this study research the methods used during evaluation and intervention to see if these are consistent with “best practices” of the profession. Faculty members of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) developed a questionnaire utilizing the language and concepts of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) 2008. Terms used include, occupation-based, client-centered, and evidence-based practice. The results indicated OT 's value occupation based, client-centered, evidence based practice (EBP) but focus more on performance skills and most often practice in unnatural environments. The study could be made stronger by using a larger sample size or using open-ended questions versus a Likert Scale.
Throughout this trip we call life many different professions find themselves walking along side these individuals to enhance their journey. One of the professions to take their place on the road is Occupational Therapy. Occupational Therapists have the unique role of incorporating the clients skills and occupational performance into a intervention that is both purposeful and meaningful in order to achieve a specific outcome that increases an individual’s participation in activities of daily living. Occupational Therapists
Occupational Therapists work with people struggling with disabling emotional, mental, physical, or developmental issues and work to enhance the daily living skills of a patient’s life. Occupational Therapists must also be patient, compassionate, and people-oriented (BLS, 2015). As mentioned above, my workplace has drastically enhanced my communication skills, that will certainly help me be a better OT. While I shadowed an OT about a week ago, she was
The model shows the motivation of occupation; the patterning of occupational performance; the essence of skilled performance and how environment affects occupation. The PEOP model is a client-centred model that was published in the 1990s, it focuses on how the performances of the individuals, groups and populations are affected by the intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Although both two models are common in the practice of occupational therapy, they are different in many ways. In this essay, I will compare the differences between two models.
I have always been interested in a career in the care industry, and after meeting with an experienced occupational therapist, I was sure that occupational therapy is a career suited to my personality and abilities. I am excited by the diverse nature of the work and the effect that meaningful activity can have in helping individuals improve their quality of life and achieve personal goals. I am a sympathetic listener, open-minded and tolerant of others lifestyles and I think that along with my problem-solving skills, and desire to help people, the range of activities which I am skilled at and enjoy would greatly aid me in helping people to rehabilitate themselves. I look forward to attending ________ where I will learn the skills necessary to make a difference by helping people gain independence and increase confidence.
Nelson was determined to define occupation clearly so that progression could be made in the field of occupational therapy (Nelson, 1988: 633). In the following essay I will outline the model that Nelson designed to clearly illustrate occupation. I will then describe an occupation that I take part in and apply Nelson’s ideas to my occupation to prove that it is an occupation. Nelson describes occupation as “the relationship between two things: occupational form and occupational performance” (Nelson, 1988: 633). Occupational form is the external environment or situation in which the occupation is performed in.
Women remained in the profession after graduation longer than previous decades and were returning to work after dealing with life events, shedding the stereotypes of single and widows as occupational therapists. It afforded them the flexibility they needed to work, yet this also contributed to the image of women in female-dominated professions of being of low commitment, low contribution, low competition, low earnings, and low recognition (Frank, 1992; Miller, 1992). Occupational therapy was still relatively unknown to the public, however a film during the 1960’s showed Warren Beatty played an occupational therapist. The films had the effect of exposing the profession to a wider public and even influence some men to become occupational therapists (Frank, 1992). The men were initially influence to occupational therapy as a career as it had variety and versatility the profession
OT practitioners do not just remediate problems but also, they think of managing function. The occupational therapist can work in a several places, including hospitals, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, hospices, rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, schools, industrial clinics, outpatient clinics. Usually OT practitioner must find solution for everyday activities of the patient. For example, if someone got injured by car accident and he/she got hemiplegia, OT practitioner teach this person how to occupy the injury. Furthermore, they help people with disabilities how they can make ordinary tasks and sometimes they make changes in their environment to make things easier to them.
I have always had the intense desire to care and look after people from a very young age. I firmly believe that everyone deserves the best quality of life possible and this is what had drawn me to occupational therapy as a career path in the first place. It is so easy to take for granted all the everyday tasks we can do and we seldom consider the effect of not being able to complete them. As an occupational therapist I would be able to make a positive impact on someone’s life and make it possible for them to enjoy their life. I want the opportunity to provide support to people, help them gain independence and watch them grow more confident in their own ability.
The American occupational therapy association (AOTA) defines occupational therapy as assisting all people with the use of meaningful occupation throughout all environments and contexts (2017). In addition, occupational therapy addresses all aspects of wellness. I believe the AOTA explains occupational therapy well by addressing all areas of practice, environments, age, and aspects of wellness. Furthermore, they gave examples of clinical examples of where or how they work to help others new to the field of occupational therapy understand it better. I believe occupational therapy is a wonderfully unique careen because it incorporates occupation, activities that bring purpose to individuals ' lives, into the therapy.
The significantly increasing need of research seen today has been predominantly propagated by the implementation of evidence-based practice, in the healthcare industry, whereby, various types of research have been constantly used as evidence in order to support and inform practice. Research is constantly needed to develop and improve the body of evidence/knowledge in occupational therapy that is available to practitioners, to provide clients with the most effective and up-to-date treatment (Ottenbacher 1987 : 4). The evidence-based practice aims to encourage healthcare professionals to provide the best quality of care to their patient, by synthesising clinical expertise, with the use of the best evidence available to aid in clinical decision-making,
Although there are many qualities that one could possess that are equally important in displaying professionalism, there are two qualities that I believe a student must have in order to display professionalism, those two qualities are accountability and altruism. One major component that I believe a student should possess to exude professionalism is accountability. Accountability is being able to assume responsibility for any and all actions. Acknowledging personal accountability and accepting all consequences for their actions is a great way for a student in a doctor of physical therapy programs to display professionalism.