Occupational Therapy Program Information
About Occupational Therapy
What is Occupational Therapy?
- Occupational therapists help people to achieve independence in all areas of their lives, including self-care, work, play, leisure, and education
- OT enables people to do the day to day activities that are important to them, despite impairments or limitations
- Occupations are activities that occupy your time
- Meaningful, purposeful activities
- Used in treatment to accomplish goals
Who Do Occupational Therapists Work With?
Anyone who has, or is at risk for:
- Occupational performance deficits
- Not able to participate in activities of self care, work, or leisure
- Physical, cognitive, or psychosocial dysfunction
- Mental illness
- Developmental disorders
- Maladaptive behaviors
Who Do Occupational Therapists Work With?
- All ages:
- Infants to adolescents to elderly
- All levels of function:
- Independent (prevention) to severely disabled
- All socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds
Where do occupational therapists work?
- Traditional medical settings, such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities, and neonatal intensive care.
- Community based settings, such as homeless shelters, home health agencies, schools, community mental health settings, group homes, early intervention programs, businesses, and industry.
How Do Occupational Therapists Help?
- Engage people in life’s activities of work, self-care and play
- Adapt the environment
- Teach a new skill or technique
- Remediate an impairment
- Use adaptive equipment
Why Occupational Therapy?
- Workforce Trends
- Employment of OTs is projected to increase between 21%-35% between 2000 and 2010 (BLS, 2002)
- Shortages in hospitals, early intervention, schools
- Emerging areas of practice: elderly, low vision rehab, driver safety, home safety
- Average entry level salary
- ~$40,000 (AMA 2000 Salary Survey)
- Median annual income
- ~$52,000 (BLS, 2002)