Occupational Therapists and the Therapies
An occupational therapist is an important member of the brain injury treatment team who might be dealing with patients just recovered from an ICU in Abu Dhabi. The focus of occupational therapies is on enabling individuals suffering from mental, physical, developmental, or any sort of emotionally disabling conditions to do, and manage, the activities of daily life (ADL) normally. ADL may include anything from using a computer, dressing up, cooking, eating, to several job-related tasks.
Occupational therapists (OTs) are highly educated and having a master’s degree, or higher in occupational therapy is the minimum requirement for entry into the field. Occupational therapy Abu Dhabi programs coursework includes the physical, biological, and behavioral sciences along with the application of occupational therapy theory and skills. The program also requires completing of a 6 months supervised fieldwork.
Occupational therapy works with individuals irrespective of their age. Besides traditional medical settings, OTs work with people recovering from brain injury in birth-to-three early intervention programs, in public school settings, as a job coach, and as part of community mental health.
An OT is a health professional that makes use of purposeful activities to assist people with physical, developmental, or emotional disabilities lead independent, productive, and satisfying lives. An OT evaluates the self-care, work and leisure skills of a person in order to plan and implement social and interpersonal activities to develop, restore, and/or maintain the person’s ability to attain ADL. While helping to improve the basic motor functions and reasoning abilities, OTs also compensate for permanent loss of function, ultimately returning the person to an independent, productive and satisfying life.
Occupational therapies range from physical to mental levels. Physical exercises are used to increase strength and dexterity, while other activities may improve visual acuteness or the ability to discern patterns. For instance, a person with short-term memory loss is encouraged to make lists to recall, while a person with coordination problems is assigned with exercises for improving hand-eye coordination. Occupational therapy aids in curing traumatic brain injury [TBI] during different phases of recovery and rehabilitation. The therapy may provide sensory, motor, and positioning supports during periods of coma. As the patient improves and recoups skills, occupational therapy alleviates the process and re-teaches skills ranging from basic self-care, to complex cognitive skills including memory and problem solving.
