Occupational Therapist
Quick Facts
What They Do
An Occupational Therapist helps patients with injuries, illnesses, and disabilities recover, improve, or develop skills needed for everyday activities. Assists people with mobility impairments to move easily around their homes; develops school and workplace settings that are accessible for individuals with physical or mental disabilities. May specialize in certain types of impairments or certain categories of patients.
Core Tasks:
- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
- Complete and maintain necessary records.
- Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
- Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
- Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
- Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
- Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.
- Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
- Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
- Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
- Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
- Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.
- Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
- Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
- Conduct research in occupational therapy.
- Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
What to expect as an Occupational Therapist
29% of people achieve this level of education.
See Occupational Therapist related courses on Tallo
19997 openings for Occupational Therapists
Career Progression
in United States (Nation)
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