Assignment On Occupational Therapy Report

Occupational Therapy
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Author Name(s)
Class (Course)
Professor (Tutor)
The School (University)
City and State
4-Oct-22

Occupational Therapy 1
Introduction
Restoring the client’s ability to work is the fundamental aspect of occupational therapy.
OT is a client-centred profession that takes a holistic approach in the promotion of the clients’
health and well-being in their specific occupation. The principals that underpin the OT
profession focuses on enabling the clients to participate in their daily activities. To achieve these
goals, OT practitioners work in collaboration with other partners such as health professionals in
other health professionals and communities. For instance, OT has been incorporated in health
settings to effectively manage symptoms and enhance the functional performance of the patient.
For instance, when a victim of an accident or a different condition reaches a point where the
patient’s leg or hand would be amputated, OT practitioners help the patient to adapt to the health
status in their work environment. In understanding the scope of OT, this paper intends to discuss
various concepts of OT. The paper begins with a general understanding of OT and then moves to
discuss other areas such as OT historical development, and the unique role of OT practitioners.
Further the paper analyses core skills, and the nature of the OT setting. The paper finishes by
going through the OT process.
Occupational Therapy
The role of occupational therapy (OT) is to enable individuals to achieve their life
satisfaction in a holistic approach that encompasses health and wellbeing as they participate in
their daily activities (College of Occupational Therapists[COT], 2017). The concept of OT has a
background in occupational science (OS) which is the study of the relation between people and
occupations (Crepeau et al., 2014). Since the OS focuses on scientific and theoretical foundation,
scientists consider it a part of the social science such as psychology, sociology or anthropology

Occupational Therapy 2
(Crepeau et al., 2014). Therefore, and understanding of OT requires epistemological reflection
particularly on the key aspects of economic, political and social dimensions.
Historical Development of OT Profession
While different scholars provide different accounts for the historical development of OT,
all of them inform that OT began as an intervention for the moral treatment for the mentally ill
(Jacobs et al., 2014; Bryant et al., 2014). The idea was to provide the mentally ill persons with an
intervention that takes into account their dignity as human beings. Prior to these earliest OT
interventions, mentally ill persons were thought to be possessed by supernatural powers (Jacobs
et al., 2014; Bryant et al., 2014).
In the US, OT was used as a form of mental intervention. However, this was a
development in the 19th century within the Arts and Crafts industry. At the time, John Ruskin
stated that reliance on machines caused deterioration of health. In the UK, Dr Elizabeth Casson
led the development of OT in Britain by working alongside John Ruskin (Bryant et al., 2014).
World War I created demand for OT for those with physical disabilities and the wounded
soldiers. In the post-war period, the economic boom of the 1920s resulted in an increased in the
demand for OT which also led to the drafting of the Smith-Bankhead Bill of 1920 in the US.
However, the great depression caused a decline in funding for the profession (Schell and Gillen,
2019). World War II again led to an increase in the demand for OT practitioners in the
rehabilitation of war veterans. The rehabilitation movement of 1942 to 1960 advocated for more
recognition of OT (Bryant et al., 2014). With medical advances in the 1970s and the late 20th-
century occupational therapists quickly noted the value of working outside of the medical
system, and the shift toward the community model began. In the UK, OT was registered as a

Occupational Therapy 3
profession under the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act, 1960 (Turner and Alsop,
2015).
The 21st century began with the society giving more focus on prevention of diseases and
health promotion (Jacobs et al., 2014). The WHO definition of health as once the ability to
pursue a productive life despite societal or physical limitations gave more validation of the
therapeutic interventions (Jacobs et al., 2014). The need for OT has since then been recognized
in clinical interventions and in educational institutions in the form of degrees, masters and PhDs.
The Unique Role of An Occupational Therapist
There are various factors that make OT unique from other professionals. Firstly, OT-
based models which are the key to defining the unique role of OT focus on the relationship
between the patient, environment, and their occupational engagement (Jacobs et al., 2014).
These models also enlighten OT practitioners on the ways of preventing occupational
disruptions. Also unlike other health professions, OT health assessment is based on work, the job
and its environmental aspects (Keponen and Launiainen, 2008). A good use case is a 14-year-old
girl who has been involved in a car accident. Due to a failure to use a seatbelt, the accident
leaves her with right hemiparesis and a right hemiparesis. In such an example, the general
medical practice will focus on treating her face, trauma, a tracheostomy to help with breathing or
even a gastrostomy feed tube. On the other hand, OT will wait until the girl recovers, and then
start assessing her on self-care, productivity, and leisure among others.
When gathering information, OT practitioners focus on information that helps them
understand the client’s daily activities (Boniface et al., 2012). OT professionals must understand
the client’s professional values, domain concerns and philosophical assumptions. Also, unlike
other health professionals, OT treatment plan prioritize on eliminating the anticipated