Occupational therapy helps improve your participation in activities. It is participation with the activities in life that you enjoy and also with the activities in life that you might not enjoy, but are necessary to maintain your independence. Occupational therapy can help modify activities that may be beyond your current abilities or help to modify your current abilities to allow you to return to your favorite activities. Occupational therapists can also visit your environment, be it your home or your workspace, to determine what modifications can be made to improve your ability to function.
Whether arthritis pain has taken away your ability to open jars and button shirts or injury and disease have reduced your ability to move the way that you need to at work, school, or home; occupational therapy can provide solutions and training to help regain your independence.
What does a typical occupational therapy patient look like?
Occupational therapy patients can be found across the entire lifespan, whether it be a child with developmental delays who is trying to integrate into the school system or an elderly individual who would like to regain the ability to clothe and groom themselves independently.
Occupational therapists see patients with hand tendon injuries, hip replacements, reduced cognitive ability, visual impairments, as well as those who have experienced neurological injuries (stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury). Occupational therapists also see patients with age related impairments like arthritis, reduced vision, and reduced cognitive abilities.
Occupational therapists also specialize in the modification of the patient’s environment to improve functionality. Occupational therapists can perform ergonomic evaluations of workspaces or evaluations of the home and school environment to improve function and patient safety.
How do I begin?
You must have a physician’s prescription to participate in occupational therapy. If you are interested in beginning an occupational therapy program, you should request a prescription from your physician and then bring the prescription to the Chatham Hospital Wellness Center to schedule your initial evaluation.
What can I expect?
After your 60 minute initial evaluation, your occupational therapist will collaborate with you to determine the optimal treatment plan and set your personal therapy goals. Our scheduling staff will try their best to accommodate your scheduling requests within our 8:30AM-5:00PM clinic hours. At Chatham Hospital Occupational Therapy, your treatment sessions will typically be 45-60 minutes in length and the activities performed will depend on your individual situation and therapy goals.
What do you expect of me?
During your time at Chatham Hospital Occupational Therapy, you will learn many therapeutic exercises, stretches, and activities that are targeted to treat your particular impairments. As our therapy staff instructs you in your personalized treatment plan, it is our expectation and goal that you will be empowered in the process to take an active role in your own recovery and improvement so that you may return to the activities and the lifestyle that you enjoy.
For more information on beginning your occupational therapy treatment, contact your physician or give us a call at 919-799-4510.
