Occupational Therapy Observation Report

Occupational therapy started back in the age of Enlightened in the 1700s in England. The founders were Susan Cox Johnson, George E. Barton, Eleanor Clarke Slagle, William R Dunton Jr, Isabel Newton, and Thomas B. Kidner. They all held different tittles they went from architect to nurse. They believed that occupying the patients with work, arts and craft, leisure. Would provide feelings of security and self-worth.

After I finish school at Campbell University I hope to go to graduate school at Winston Salem State University or East Carolina University to get my masters degree in occupational therapy. After I am done with school I hope to move close to home in work in a hospital setting or I would like to work specifically with children who need therapy. To obtain a degree in occupational therapy you must get your master’s degree or you can choose to get a doctoral degree. To get your master’s degree you must get a bachelors degree first and require certain courses such as biology and physiology. Many programs also require you to have volunteered or worked in an occupational therapy setting.

Occupational Therapy: A Milestone in My Life Samantha Morell Keiser University Occupational Therapy: A Milestone in My Life The profession of occupational therapy, specifically pediatric occupational therapy, has captured my interest. I believe that I understand children and I can establish meaningful connections with them. Children who have experienced comas or physical disabilities such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) need occupational therapy.

“She fights me every time I have to sit her up, and when we do finally get her sitting, we need two people to hold her up because she pushes backward, and she’s strong! She stayed in bed all day because I knew you were coming and that you were going to do some bed exercises with her. There’s no way to get her out of bed by myself unless I use the Hoyer lift, and I didn’t want to take her out of bed just to have to put her back in it again.” As an occupational therapist (OT), I cannot count the number of times I been told a statement similar to this in my line of work.

Through the use of the Occupational Therapy’s Framework an occupational therapy practitioner is able to evaluate teachers to identify how lack of knowledge and training affects teachers’ well-being in the area of occupation, resulting in lack of rest and poor sleep habits due to stress. The teacher’s job performance is affected by lack of training and feeling inadequately prepared to teach their students with disabilities. A stressful environment in place of employment could result in loss of sleep, a decrease in health, poor job performance and loss of financial income (AOTA, 2014). When teachers display negative attitude regarding inclusion classroom the teachers’ action and behavior of how he/she treat students with disabilities could affect

1.Describe, in your own words, how occupational therapy helps people. Occupational therapy allows a patient to work towards the goal of being able to perform basic everyday functional tasks. Therapy will differ for each patient, providing purposeful tasks that will allow the most growth for the specific individual needs. Being able to be an independent individual that can perform functional tasks is something that most people strive for, and if something happened that altered this way of life, it can be very stressful and even feel dehumanizing to the patient. Striving for independence and working with the therapists is something that will positively affect the patient's quality of life.

In case you missed it, April is occupational therapy month, and as this month comes to a close, you should consider how occupational therapy can benefit you. Hale Makua Health Services, an assisted living expert in Hawaii, explains what occupational therapy is and how it can help you or your loved one. Located in Kahului, Hale Makua Health Services offers a wide range of healthcare services, from minimal assistance to full-time home health care throughout the entire island of Maui. Occupational therapists are trained to help people with limited abilities live happy and meaningful lives. Oftentimes, older people experience limited mobility and problems performing everyday tasks.

My initial impression of the profession was that this was a career that assisted individuals with ADL’S. As a CNA, I occasionally interacted with the OT practitioners at my place of employment and I assisted some of them with helping patients engage in activities such as dressing, bathing, and feeding. As a CNA, I assist patients with these things as well and it generated an interest in the OT profession. Initially, my beliefs and understanding of the profession was centered around the physical activities that can be performed in an occupational setting included but not limited to, the amount of weight that can be lifted, the type of movement a patient can perform comfortably, the part of the body that is used more often, and how much walking or lifting that can be exerted. These were my exact thoughts of my impression while completing the occupational profile in my first writing class of the program. After the completion of the assignment, I received feedback from the instructor and learned that I was incorrect in my thinking.

Before my first year of studying occupational therapy commenced, my knowledge of the field of study was limited. Through continuous exposure to different sources of knowledge and experience, my understanding has increased exponentially and I’ve experienced great growth and change. Though the learning experiences have been plentiful, there were two significant events that developed my understanding of the importance of occupation in OT. The first experience took place at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital on an independent visit. The second was a visit to Elma Park Nursery School, organised and conducted by Wits.

What new knowledge and/or skills did you learn during this rotation? In what ways has this learning changed your perspective on this particular field/career? During my rotation with an Occupational Therapist, I learned about different disorders. I had a patient who can’t do anything on her own.

Elderly adults usually experience problems in their daily lives due to health-related disabilities and chronic diseases. This makes it difficult for them to perform self-care activities. An elderly may need to complete various daily living activities such as taking care of their personal hygiene which may include oral care, grooming, and bathing. At times performing these activities tend to be very difficult, but with a little bit of help and therapy, they usually manage themselves. There is certain characteristic that the elderly possess that will help them in completing the ADL once they decide to take part in the therapy.

As an occupational therapy (OT) practitioner I would want to work with a company or organization that upholds the values and principles of my profession. According to the American Organization Therapy Association (AOTA) as professionals, we should not violate the principles of; Beneficence, Autonomy, Veracity, Nonmaleficence, Fidelity and Justice (AOTA, 2015). Some questions that I will ask to determine if an organization has a culture that supports ethical practice and decision-making would be; what are the organization’s values, what are the expectations of the staff and is there room for professional growth?

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