For seniors living at home with the help of home health professionals in Milwaukee, occupational therapy can promote independence and reduce the frequency of emergency room visits caused by accidents at home. Occupational therapy is similar to physical therapy, though it focuses primarily on task-specific goals rather than overall strength and mobility. If you or a loved one has had occupational therapy recommended as part of a home care program, here is what you might expect through this program.
Environmental assessment
Because occupational therapy is individually tailored to each patient’s needs, it will begin with a thorough assessment of your current skills, weaknesses, and surroundings at home. With these factors in consideration, your occupational therapist can suggest beneficial changes to your environment and begin to understand your physical needs and goals.
Individual therapy planning
In addition to objective assessment, your therapist will use your personal goals to guide the exercises used in your occupational therapy sessions. If, for example, you are having trouble preparing meals at home, your occupational therapist may work with you to improve certain cooking tasks. In any type of exercise in your therapy, you can expect to use specialized tools that are designed to address concerns such as weakened grip strength or balance difficulties.
Ongoing sessions and goals
During occupational therapy, there should be progress in each session, which is often tracked by the occupational therapist to ensure that sessions are productive. Therapy may become more challenging as skills improve, and goals might change throughout the course of occupational therapy. In many cases, patients will utilize both physical therapy and occupational therapy, as these two modalities can address different concerns related to the same goal of retaining independence at home.
When you or a loved one is showing signs of difficulty living at home, home health professionals can help you stay in the comfortable surroundings of home while catering to your specific needs in the aging process.
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I have been looking into physical therapy and occupational therapy for my grandma. She was recommended to occupational therapy and it looks great. Less ER visits and it is tailored to the needs of the patient and that is what she needs. Thanks for the explanation of occupational therapy.
I have a few friends that went into occupational therapy. You make a great point about how occupational therapy services will often do an environmental assessment of an individual’s work and home to identify skills and modifications that might be needed for each individual. Having ramps, grip bars, or special computer interfaces can help many individuals become more independent and successful.
My grandma will be starting occupational therapy soon but none of us knew what to expect. So I like how you point out that occupational is different than physical therapy because it works on task-specific goals rather than strength and mobility. I think my grandma will like that better rather than just working out everyday. Thanks for the heads up!
You mentioned that there should be progress in every session of occupational therapy. I want to add that even the small amount of progress is progress. Each session does not need to be a life-changing moment for the patient.