A Guide To Occupational Therapy

In everyday life, people perform activities as simple as moving about, cooking, cleaning, eating, bathing, showering, dressing, or maintaining their hygiene with ease. However, if they are recovering from a physical or mental illness, even these simple tasks may be difficult.

That’s where occupational therapy (OT), a form of treatment that encourages rehabilitation, can help. Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants enable people to participate in their essential occupations with the therapeutic use of everyday activities, based on a patient’s personal goals and needs. For example:

• They can help a child with a disability participate in school and social situations.
• They can assist an injured worker to regain the skills required to function in their job.
• They can provide support to seniors who are experiencing cognitive or physical changes.

Typically, OT services include an evaluation during which the therapist and patient or the patient’s family determine the patient’s specific goals. Intervention is customized to reach those goals by improving the patient’s ability to perform daily activities. Also, outcomes evaluation is performed to ensure that the patient’s goals are being met or to make necessary changes to the intervention plan. These services may also include a comprehensive evaluation of the patient’s home and/or other environments, any recommendations for needed adaptive equipment, as well as training in its use, and both education and guidance for family members or caregivers.

Types of Occupational Therapy

At HealthPoint’s Wooster Community Hospital in Wooster, Ohio, patients of all ages can receive a wide range of OT therapy, including:

• Certified Hand Therapy – A certified hand therapist (CHT) with a minimum of three years of clinical experience and 4,000 hours in direct practice provides a wide range of treatments for hand and upper extremity conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, stroke, accident, or trauma. Our therapists are specially trained in helping with pain management, nerve desensitization, sensory reeducation, conditioning, home exercise programs, splint fabrication, and the retraining of daily life skills.
• CVA/TNI/Neurology – If you or a loved one have suffered a stroke or traumatic brain injury (TBI), our occupational therapists can help you regain your independence by focusing on your fine motor skills to achieve functional improvement in your daily living activities. We can also recommend appropriate assistive devices if they are needed.
• Functional Capacity Evaluation – These tests of physical performance help determine a patient’s capabilities after an injury and are often requested by doctors to determine an employee’s limitations in returning to work or the need for disability income.
• Oncology Treatment – Our therapists can help you control and manage your problem if your extremities are adversely affected by cancer treatment or another condition.
• Orthopedics – Our therapists treat many orthopedic conditions, including arthritis, amputations, crush injuries, cumulative trauma disorder, dislocations, fractures, tumors, and infections, as well as common musculoskeletal conditions such as ligamentous injury, muscle strains, and tendinopathies.
• Pediatrics – HealthPoint’s Occupational Therapy staff helps infants and school-aged children impacted by medical or environmental factors improve their fine motor development and sensory integration. That includes providing therapy to infants and children with special needs. We partner with parents to help each child reach their maximum potential, providing therapy in a play-based setting that is tailored to each child’s specific needs. We also coordinate the services of physical therapists and speech therapists if it is required and work with a variety of specialty services (including orthotic and medical equipment providers) who come to HealthPoint for added convenience.
• Splint Fabrication – Our therapists are skilled in the construction of specialized splints that are vital to successful rehabilitation following many injuries and surgical treatments. These customized splints are used to immobilize the affected area and correct or prevent deformity to ensure proper healing and function. Additionally, our therapists can help with exercises, mesotherapy, and wrapping to reduce swelling. Patients can be fitted with the right type of compression garments and taught proper skin care, as well as additional precautions designed to help the patient quickly resume their normal activities.

Occupational Therapy in Wooster, Ohio

The occupational therapy provided at HealthPoint’s Wooster Community Hospital’s health and wellness facility is specifically geared toward helping those who have experienced a change in their ability to perform self-care, homemaking, work, or leisure tasks due to neurological, orthopedic, or other disease-related issues.

Our therapists identify patient goals through a thorough initial evaluation and work with the patient to develop an intensive, individualized treatment program to meet these goals, so they can successfully regain lost skills, reclaim their independence, and enjoy an improved quality of life.

For more information about our occupational therapy services, contact HealthPoint Wooster Community Hospital’s health and wellness facility today by calling (330) 202-3300.