Occupational Therapy

The primary focus of occupational therapy is enabling individuals to participate actively and meaningfully in their day to day lives. Occupation is defined as any meaningful activity a person may do throughout the course of a day, including taking care of one's self (self care), contributing to society through paid and unpaid work (productivity), and simply enjoying life (leisure). Individuals may experience many obstacles to participating in occupations as a result of the aging process, disability, environmental change, or other circumstances. Occupational therapists may work in the home, hospital, clinic, or community setting to enable clients to adapt to or overcome obstacles and optimize their involvement in daily life.

The ability to perform an occupation is impacted by interaction between the activity, the skills, and attributes of the individual and the environment. Occupational therapists strive to optimize performance by facilitating a positive interaction between the components of the person, environment, and occupation. Identified areas of concern for occupational therapy can be grouped into the three broad categories: self care, productivity, and leisure.