What is Occupational Therapy?

1. Occupational Therapy and Human Occupation 

Occupational therapy deals with helping people do all things they want or need to do in their life through the therapeutic use of daily activities (Marcil, 2012). Through the help of the occupational therapists, individuals of all ages are enabled to live life to the fullest by promoting health, as well as helping them prevent or live with injuries and disabilities. Regarding human occupation, it refers to the work performed by an individual either for a pay or not. It also includes playing and the activities of daily living within both the sociocultural and the physical context of human life. Occupational therapy relates with human occupation in that the earlier helps an individual to regain his/her skills to perform a particular activity. The intervention is usually necessary after an accident or other major change in human life. For instance, helping an injured person to recover his/her skills. 

2. Role of: 

I. Occupational Therapist 

The primary role of the occupational therapists is to help patients of all ages to gain and maintain skills to perform day to day activities and for their wellbeing (Clewes & Kirkwood, 2016). Also, with the help of the patient, they determine the important activities in the patients’ lives that are hindered by arthritis. They also scrutinize the surrounding to establish how it contributes to the difficulties in the patient’s life. Finally, they establish ways that the patient can use his/her strengths and the available resources to live a satisfactory life. 

II. Occupational Therapy Assistant 

Usually, occupational therapy assistants work under the direction of the occupational therapists. Their duties include verification of the client’s information through interviews to confirm the purpose of the treatment (Creek, 2010). As well, they maintain the patients’ records and prepare a report on their progress. This information is to be used by the occupational therapists. The assistants also help the clients improve their lives by assisting them to compensate for their limitation. 

3. Skills, Talents, Personal Attributes/Experiences, and Work Experiences of Occupational Therapy Profession 

Occupational therapy practices involve helping patients who might not only be physically disabled but also emotionally and mentally sensitive. For that reason, I need the compassionate skills to ensure that I practice empathy. Cheerleading skills help to motivate the patient and ignite passion in their lives despite the situation. Further, the ability to observation is necessary for analyzing the situations of the patients as well as handling their complaints and provide a solution to their problems. For that reason, I need to have excellent communication skills to help interact with the patient effectively. Finally, organizational skills are necessary for planning how one ought to conduct their daily activities in the therapeutic facility. 

Weaknesses 

The fundamental weakness that I struggle with is my inability to hide my emotions from the rest of the world. This means it is hard to hold the tears when I am sad and even more difficult to be sympathetic when am happy. However, since I enrolled in the program and started practicing as an occupational therapy assistant, I have learned to control my emotions, especially when I am attending to the patients. I am working on differentiating between work and personal feeling to help me carry on with the training. 

4. The motivation for Becoming an Occupational Therapist 

My passion for science made me choose occupational therapy as my career. I have always wanted to engage in analysis that involves critical investigation and examination of human activities to substantial physical results. I am also enthusiastic working with people from all walks of life and engaging them to solving problems at a personal level. I have always wished to be a servant who listens to others and help put their lives in order. 

References 

Clewes, J., & Kirkwood, R. (Eds.). (2016).  Diverse roles for occupational therapists . M&K Update Ltd. 

Creek, J. (2010).  The core concepts of occupational therapy: A dynamic framework for practice . Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 

Marcil, W. M. (2012).  Occupational therapy: What it is and how it works . Cengage Learning.