What Is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy is a rehabilitation and health care profession with nearly a 100 year history in the United States. Occupational therapists, who are commonly referred to as OT's, use research evidence, clinical expertise and client values to provide therapeutic assessment and intervention to individuals whose productive living is impaired by disease, physical injury, developmental deficits, psychological or social disability, the aging process, or poverty and cultural differences.
OT's provide services to infants and preschoolers, school-aged children and adolescents, and individuals through all stages of adulthood. Practice settings where OT's are employed include inpatient hospitals and nursing facilities; outpatient rehabilitation centers; community mental health centers or assisted-living facilities; schools, early intervention centers and family homes, as well as federal and state agencies and private industries. Of particular interest to occupational therapy practitioners, is the specialized use of technology, adaptation and instruction that is referred to as assistive technology. Utilizing a total person and client-centered perspective, occupational therapists assist clients to select assistive technology devices that will enable them to enhance their functional performance based upon their age, developmental level and disability status, as well as physical, social and cultural environmental contexts in which they choose to participate.
The profession of occupational therapy is scientifically centered upon research in the evolving academic discipline of Occupational Science (Clark, Parham, Carlson, 1991; Wilcox, 2003). Knowledge about the pivotal nature of occupation and functional adaptation in human life provides the framework upon which occupational therapy has developed. Human occupation refers to how people productively and meaningfully spend their time and organize their lives (Kielhofner, 1995; Christiansen & Baum, 1997; Wilcox, 2001). Functional adaptation refers to how people perform life activities, tasks and roles while adjusting to physical, psychological, social, cultural or environmental disabilities (Reilly, 1962; Christiansen, 1991; Schultz & Schkade, 1997).
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- Master of Science in Occupational Therapy:
- What Is Occupational Therapy?
- Faculty and Staff
- Mission Statement
- Division Philosophy
- Professional Program
- Professional Accreditation / Certification Requirements
- Additional Information: Standards for Essential Functions for Health Science Student Practitioners
- Degree Requirements
- Admissions/Fieldwork Requirements
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