Celebrating World Occupation Therapy (OT) Day

Author: Cara Anderson, Occupational Therapist 

Date: 27 October 2020

What is an OT? An Occupational Therapist is a health care professional who helps people of all ages overcome the effects of disability caused by illness, ageing or accident so that they can carry out their everyday tasks or occupations. The OT will consider all the person's needs during the assessment - physical, psychological, social and environmental. 

Tuesday 27 October is World Occupational Therapy day that celebrates the important work OT’s do to help people regain their confidence and independence.  This year’s theme is Imagine Redoing.

One of our OTs, Cara Anderson, gave us a stunning example of how working with a client produced such important results in his life.

‘Earlier in the year, I worked with a gentleman who was struggling with his personal hygiene routine. The client is a large man and found bending over and reaching very challenging and he wasn’t mobile enough to manage his bath. He was very determined and had been persevering with the strip wash technique but was conscious that it wasn’t the good wash he wanted, so was also restricting his social activities and going out. This, in turn, was having an impact on his overall mood and self-esteem.’

‘I arranged for him to have a level access shower fitted by the Home Improvement Agency, and when I returned on a second visit (there are not many cases where we do a second visit) he said “it has changed my life”.’

‘His gratitude really made me appreciate how important the person-centred work we do is, particularly when it impacts an area of their life that most of us take for granted.’

If you would like to find out more about occupational therapy, go to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ website.