Occupational Therapy and Chronic Illness

Occupational therapy strives to use a holistic treatment approach to improve a person's day to day functioning. Balancing life and engaging in work, leisure and personal management by teaching new skills or adapting task or environment is a high priority for OTs. By using meaningful activities we encourage clients to live their life to their personal best. This can be done in a group setting or on an individual either on hospital or on an outpatient basis.

So what services can an Occupational Therapist offer an adult client with a chronic illness?

“As much as 90% of the management of a chronic condition must be performed, not by health care providers, but by the person who has the condition.” ‐ California Healthcare Foundation, 2008 whether it's managing your medication, putting on your own socks or remembering where you left the keys OT is the profession to help you.

Here are 10 other topics that an OT can include in your treatment:

      1)      Learning new skills:

From Social skills to learning how to knit, OTs are equipped to analyze activities and your level of functioning to assist you to learn new skills.

2)      Adaptation of task and use of assistive devices

Helping find simple and practical adaption’s to everyday tasks ie putting on your shoes

3)      Reasonable accommodations in the workplace:

Changing the setup, routine, hours or accessibility to the workplace.

4)      Stress Management and emotional expression

Learning new skills to express and manage emotions and therefore decrease stress

     

     5)    Splinting and wheelchairs

OTs have expert knowledge in the correct seating, positioning and use of wheelchairs.

Splinting of joints due to hypermobility or arthritis can help prevent further damage and manage pain.

6)      Training of support care worker

Training care workers or family members in the correct way to assist clients i.e. transferring clients from the bed to the wheelchair

    7)      Joint protection & pain management

Teaching techniques to use large joints to avoid pain and deterioration of smaller joints. Techniques to combat pain such as visualization.

8)      Energy conservation

Managing energy levels as to prioritize activities, teaching the practical application of the energy conservation (the spoon theory). 

9)      Support vs stigma

Using education and training to gain support from family members or co-workers and decreasing stigma

10)  Self-management and Lifestyle adaption

Developing new habits, routines, and lifestyle adaptation.