Occupational Therapy (OT) helps you recover, improve, or maintain the skills needed for daily living. The word occupation in this context refers to activities or tasks required in your regular life.
If you want help navigating through injury, reduced mobility, and disability, long-term (chronic) health conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, or cancer, OT can support you. Occupational Therapy can help you re-establish your sense of control and purpose in life, and help you find a way to participate in leisure or social events, meet your responsibilities and maintain as much independence as possible.
What is the difference between Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy?
The main difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy is that OT focuses on improving your ability to perform activities of daily living and Physiotherapy focuses on improving your ability to perform movement of the human body.
What to expect in an individual consult
In the privacy of our consult rooms, you can choose to be seen by a student under the supervision of an experienced clinician, or solely by a clinician. (Varied rates apply) In the instance of a student consult, the supervising clinician may or may not be present in the room, however they will always review and approve the student’s care plans for you.
You will be asked a variety of questions to help us understand your goals, what ‘occupations’ are important to you, and any challenges you may you may face doing them. We can then enhance your own personal life skills, adjust your environment or adjust the occupation (or task) itself.
How might we achieve this?
You might receive a combination of the below:
- Relevant information to build your knowledge and skills e.g. tips on avoiding falls, or recommendations for a community education class to help you navigate the internet safely
- Recommended alternative ways of doing activities e.g. safer ways to get in and out of the car or tackle stairs, pre-planning meals to define a grocery list that fits your budget.
- Recommendations of specific ways to change your environment to suit your needs e.g. removing trip hazards from your home, pre-planning your journey for easy access to and from a new place
- Recommendations for devices and therapy equipment to help you do the activities you want to do. e.g. daily living aids may include bathroom aids, reaching aids, dressing aids or eating aids.