From School to The Office

"So, occupational therapy. Is that, like, helping people find jobs?"
I cannot tell you how many times I have had someone respond in kind when I say I'm in school for OT. Because, these days, you hear the word occupation and you immediately think jobs, professions, all that good stuff. Buuuut, as you are learning (by reading this blog), that isn't exactly accurate.

Well, today is the day for all those who thought occupations only meant the things you do everyday to earn money to support yourself. Today, we are looking at the areas of occupations that are Work & Education. Technically separate, but they pair together well.

Education is fairly self-explanatory. School, learning, you get the idea. School-based OT is a huge part of OT practice. In fact, it comprises one of the top three settings OT's work in. School-based OT is all about helping students achieve success in the school environment and curriculum. This includes working with children from preschool through high school, and on into college. And, as always WHAT we do in therapy depends on the needs of the student! Because I highly interested in school-based OT, I have been doing some volunteer-consultative-OT work at a preschool. (Which sounds way more pompous than it is. Basically, my classmate and I, in addition to one of our professors, have been meeting with the teacher and education coordinator to develop some tools and strategies to help the students prepare for kindergarten. It's lots of fun!) Thus far, we've evaluated the current skills of the students, and made a few things to help improve various fine motor skills (i.e. using tongs to pick up pom-poms, which helps develop the grip strength they'll need for grasping writing utensils, using a few basic shapes made out of felt to form all the letters of the alphabet, etc.).

And, again, school-based OT is that it's not just one thing! Sometimes it's fine motor for handwriting, other times it's gross motor for participating in more physical activities like P.E. and recess. Sometimes it's making modifications to the classroom environment to make it less distracting and increase a student's ability to stay focus. Other times it might be helping students with disabilities transition from elementary to middle school, high school to college. The list is endless!!!!!!

And, because it's endless, I should probably move along to the next area of occupation.

When it comes to work, OT's can end up working with people at many different stages and situations in their professional lives. OT's have extensive knowledge and expertise about life transitions, so they may be found helping their clients find jobs. OT's are also instrumental to getting people back to work after an injury or illness, and are often the ones to carry out work comp assessments and make recommendations for rehab based on their findings (and then, of course, carrying out that rehab, usually in conjunction with a PT).

Companies are continuing to recognize the importance of preventative care for their employees. Which is brilliant, and great, because, in the long run, it is more cost-effective to spend funds on preventative measures than on medical care after employees are injured or ill. Of course, it shouldn't be about money. So we'll ignore that part. The reality is that it's just better health practice to prevent decline, rather than waiting for it to happen before stepping in! And, while OT's treat health decline that has already happened, it is also part of our job to work in the prevention aspect. So, many factories keep an OT on staff for that purpose.

Offices also hire OT's to do environmental assessments of their workspaces. (And this always makes me giggle, because I think of that episode of The Office.) But, for real, carpal tunnel is no joke! And neither are back and neck problems! In an environmental assessment, OT's look at all aspects of the environment, in addition to the employees working in that environment. And, using their findings, they come up with modifications (more supportive chairs, better lighting to reduce strain on the eyes, etc.) and strategies to promote general health among employees (exercise programs to combat obesity, healthier options in the vending machines, etc.).
Further proof that OT's can be at home just about anywhere!!

All Education &Work occupation areas information borrowed & adapted from: Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (3rd Edition). American Journal of Occupational Therapy 2014;68(Supplement_1):S1-S48. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2014.682006.