A person's occupation can include a vocation; however, occupations encompass so much more. One woman's occupation may be a mother who cooks, and cleans for her family. She may also be a gardener during her leisure time. Part of her daily activities which allow her to complete her occupation as a wife, mother, cook, and gardener are what we called Activities of Daily Living (Davis). These activities include, dressing, bathing, and toileting, transferring from one location to another, and getting in and out of bed. When she wakes up, she must be able to do her daily preparations such as getting out of bed, and taking a bath in a safe manner. When an injury such as broken hip affects the person's ability to complete her occupation in a safe and effective manner that person is then referred by a doctor to an Occupational therapist. The therapist's job is to help regain the person's ability to complete her occupations at her prior level of function. During the initial evaluation, the Occupational therapist will interview the patient and family. Together, they will determine what occupations the patient had, and wishes to return to. The therapist will also determine what Occupational Therapy
First of all, college gives us a variety of careers. You may want to be a Doctor or an Astronomer. Both careers are day and night different, but that is the beauty of a college education you are given the opportunity to explore new waters. High school graduates that don't move on to college are not given this opportunity, they are forced to choose from menial and odd jobs, that you may not even enjoy. In the article “Importance of a College Education” by Mr. Hobsons the author states “High school graduates
Having a job made me fear starting college because I knew it was going to be a lot of weight on my shoulders. Though, I knew if I wanted a better life that meant I would have to go back to school. Meaning I had to do both school and work because of my car payment and other bills. After a year of being out from high school, I decided to take a chance and start college. Getting an education has always caused stressed upon me. School did not come easily to me, like how it does for most others. College is not easy to handle when you are having to juggle time, work, and other responsibilities.
Meaningful occupation is the fundamental element of occupational therapy. Griffith et al. (2007) gleaned a...
College has a extensive impact on a person that some people simply don’t realize. When I first started college, I was a little close-minded and unsure about what it was I wanted to do with the rest of my life. When I was halfway through my freshman year, I decided to completely change my path in life. I left ECU, moved into an apartment, transferred to Pitt and declared my major intended sonography. Then suddenly I hated what I was doing, I had to take a step back and truly evaluate my life and what it was I was meant to do. I was completely lost. Then one day I received a text from a friend telling me to apply to a hospital located in Chesapeake, Virginia. I did, and I got the job. When I told my parents they were less than thrilled, they didn’t like the idea of me taking a year off from school to work, but I thought long and hard about what was best for me and decided it was something I was meant to do, it was the path I needed to follow. I worked for a year while living at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. I was completely independent, providing for myself 100 percent. While working this job, I realized that what I wanted to do and what I was called to do in life was become a nurse, which is something I would have never figured out had I not seriously weighed my options
Occupational Therapy is a health care designed to treat an individual’s disability and difficulty to improve their performance in their daily life activities. The term occupation does not only refer to the job of an individual but refers to what they do in their everyday lives, which is why any individual, regardless of age, may benefit from occupational therapy. Occupation is everything people do to occupy themselves, which includes work, leisure, and self care (CAOT). An occupational therapy program aims to improve the individual’s performance and engagement because of their physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities.
An understanding of occupation and its science dimension enables the therapist to gain knowledge about how patients orchestrate their lives through the doing of occupations in any given context. The occupational therapy proce...
The definition provided by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) briefly gives a glimpse into all that encompasses Occupational Therapy. It includes key aspects, such as, driving improvement or success through goals, and working towards independence. However, there is much more than meets the eye. In many cases, being able to read and recite a definition doesn’t necessarily indicate there is a clear understanding. There are many more aspects and details that go into the profession of Occupational Therapy. As mentioned, the word ‘occupation’ is typically thought of as work; however in the definition provided by AOTA, there is no direction mention of work, instead the word ‘activity’ is used.
Occupation is defined as “activites of everyday life, names, organized and given meaning by individuals and a culture” (Association, 2006). This article also discusses the historical aspects of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy was founded by many different professionals with different backgrounds, that came together to share the same idea about how occupational therapy should be and the importance of activites for a person. This article also talks about different types of services that occupational therapy offers. Occupational therapists and assistances can work in many different settings. With the variety of settings a therapist and assistance can work in, the services that are offered there are different. Some different services that can be offered at these settings can include community mobility skills, stress management, alternative routines and habits, and more. It is important for therapists and assistances to know what settings offer what type of services when they are referencing their client to a new setting. The last topic this article discussed
Townsend & Polatajko (2007) state that “Occupational therapy is the art and science of enabling engagement in everyday living, through occupation; of enabling people to perform the occupations that foster health and well-being; and of enabling a just and inclusive society so that all people may participate to their potential in the daily occupations of life”.
Occupations are applied in terms of Occupational Therapy to offer holistic healing and health to clients. Occupational therapy not only focuses on the physical aspects of regaining indecency over occupation but also on the mental and emotional aspects of the need to engage in occupation. In the article by Ann Wilock she discusses how Occupational Therapy focuses on specific occupations and how people do them why they do them and how it gives them meaning and purpose. Wilcock focuses on the doing and being of human life. She discusses how we as humans need things to do to feel and be healthy and how we also need a sense of being (living) (Wilcock, 1999). Occupational therapists apply occupations knowing that they are important to foster a sense of purpose and that they are a pre-requisite to health and wellness. In our occupation by design text we see that occupations must be designed by Occupational Therapist for appeal, intactness, and accuracy (Pierce, 2003). This way we can be sure the application of Occupation results in pleasure and usefulness within the means of the patients’ typical environment. Overall, occupations are applied by occupational therapist in their practices to provide an overall
While growing up I had many ideas of what professional career I wanted to obtain, although until recent years, occupational therapy was not even a thought. It was not until my grandmother had a stroke that I even knew what occupational therapy was or entailed. I watched my grandmother participate in therapy leading her to learn how to tie her shoes again, and the things I thought were so simple as to dress herself again. It was during that time as high school graduation was approaching that I realized I wanted to be apart of that. I wanted to have a role helping others learn and exceed as she did because I seen how much joy it brought her. This experience opened my eye to the things we so often take for granted, that some people lose the ability of doing or lack the ability of doing. Throughout her journey of facing and overcoming these problems, it led me to a yearning to pursue this
OT was founded in 1917(Barker Schwartz, 2003). Since then, the paradigm has shifted twice, resulting in three different paradigms. Kielhofner (2009) describes the first paradigm as paradigm of occupation that prevailed within occupational therapy from its founding until the 1940s. This paradigm views occupation as an essential part of life and health and focuses on the environment and mind rather than body and impairment. Occupation was seen as a therapeutic tool and a way of achieving dignity for the individual. These values arose due to the influences of social and health care movements of pragmatism, Arts and Crafts movement, and moral...
Consistent with the concept that occupation is the foundation stone of occupational therapy, this research paper makes a case for the importance of acknowledging the central position of occupation in all definitions of occupational therapy. Having a clear and easily recognizable definition of occupational therapy is imperative if the profession is to survive the current challenges, such as competition for limited resources, other professions widening the scope of their practice, and pressure for generic rather than specialist workers.
The realization of how important the value of occupation and health is in my own life inspires me to help others. I work on maintaining my own health by staying active and productive everyday. Being able to participate in occupations and activities I enjoy is what allows me to live a fulfilling and satisfying life. Occupational therapy appeals to me because it helps people overcome different obstacles, allow them to accomplish their goals, and participate in activities that are meaningful to them. Along with the physical component of Occupational Therapy, I have also observed the emotional, mental, and behavioral aspect of it. I have always been fascinated with the holistic approach Occupational Therapy takes when providing someone with individualized treatment. I believe physical and mental health is integrated, and it’s essential to look at the whole person in order to understand the needs of an