The Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Team - The Occupational Therapist
An important person in the brain injury treatment team will likely be an occupational therapist. Occupational therapists help patients improve their ability to perform tasks in living and working environments. This type therapy targets enabling individuals who suffer from mental, physical, developmental, or emotionally disabling conditions to accomplish, and manage, the activities of daily life [ADL]. ADL can include, just by example, using a computer, dressing, cooking, eating, bathing and also job-related tasks.
Occupational therapists are highly educated. A master's degree, or higher, in occupational therapy may be the minimum requirement for entry in to the field. Coursework in occupational therapy programs are the physical, biological, and behavioral sciences in addition to the application of occupational therapy theory and skills. Programs additionally require the completion of six months of supervised fieldwork.
Occupational therapy works together with individuals no matter how old they are. Along with traditional medical settings, occupational therapists can see people recovering from brain injury in birth-to-three early intervention programs, in public school settings, as job coaches, so when section of community mental health.
An occupational therapist is really a health professional. According to an Ohio State University website, "Occupational therapy is really a healthcare profession that uses "occupation," or purposeful activity, to greatly help persons with physical, developmental, or emotional disabilities lead independent, productive, and satisfying lives." This occupational therapist evaluates the self-care, work and leisure skills of a person and plans and implements social and interpersonal activities to build up, restore, and/or keep up with the person's capability to accomplish ADL. The therapist really helps to improve basic motor functions and reasoning abilities, but also to compensate for permanent loss of function. The ultimate goal would be to return the person to an unbiased, productive and satisfying life.
Occupational therapists treatments add the physical to the mental. More helpful hints may be used to increase strength and dexterity, while alternative activities may be chosen to boost visual acuity or the capability to discern patterns. For example, a person with short-term memory loss may be encouraged to make lists to assist recall while a person with coordination problems may be assigned exercises to improve hand-eye coordination. Occupational therapists also use computer programs to help improve decision-making, abstract-reasoning, problem-solving, and perceptual skills, along with memory, sequencing, and coordination-all of which are important for independent living.
Other treatments range from the application of adaptive equipment, including wheelchairs, eating aids, dressing aids, design or build special equipment needed in the home or at work, including computer-aided adaptive equipment. Teaching can be utilized on how to utilize the equipment to boost communication and control various situations within their environment
Occupational therapy is used in treating traumatic brain injury [TBI] during many phases of recovery and rehabilitation. Such therapy may be involved in providing sensory, motor, and positioning supports during periods of coma. Because the patient improves and regains skills, occupational therapy eases the process and re-teaches skills which range from basic self-care, to complex cognitive skills such as for example memory and problem solving.
WHAT SHOULD I SEARCH FOR WITHIN AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST?
The following is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of the questions or concerns you should have whenever choosing an occupational therapist nor is the following designed to disqualify any occupational therapist you are considering, these are meant to enable you to commence a discussion with the occupational therapist.
1. Search for licensing as, typically, such therapists must be licensed, requiring a master's degree in occupational therapy, 6 months of supervised fieldwork, and passing scores on national and State examinations.
2. Do they work full-time in their profession? More than a quarter of occupational therapists work part time.
3. How often will the therapist assess and record your activities? Progress can be an important part of an occupational therapist's job. Accurate records are essential for evaluating clients, for billing, and for reporting to physicians along with other health care providers.
4. Does the therapist specialize. Some occupational therapists may work exclusively with individuals in a particular age group or with a particular disability. In a school setting, a therapist may use children individually. Some therapists provide early intervention therapy to infants and toddlers who have, or are at threat of having, developmental delays. Some occupational therapists work only with elderly patients.
5. Will the therapist make home visits? It is crucial, once you commence to re-establish your independence that you look at the role TBI will play in coping with your lifestyle. An occupational therapist can make tips for adaptive equipment, training to prolong driving independence, assess homes for hazards and identify environmental factors which could contribute to further injury and injury prevention.
6. Will the therapist visit, and assess, your work environment?