OT enables people of all ages to live life to its fullest by helping them promote health, and prevent—or live better with—injury, illness, or disability. Your life is made up of occupations—meaningful everyday activities. It is the is the only profession that helps people across the lifespan to do the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of daily activities. If you are recovering from an accident or injury, your valued occupations may be disrupted. Occupational therapy incorporates your valued occupations into the rehabilitation process.

-AOTA

OTs help patients return to the lives that they love. An injury or illness can be devastating, and we know that much of the healing process involves being able to participate in daily life in ways that matter the most to each specific patient. 

OT serves as a guide, by helping each patient establish health and life goals—and then working with them to find the interventions, technology, and equipment that work best to get them where they want to be.

OTs work with patients to address their clinical conditions, recommending habits and home adaptations to help them participate more fully in day-to-day life.

-OT Potential

Occupational therapy (OT) is a health career with a focus on helping people become independent and engage in activities of daily living and activities they find meaningful. Occupational therapists use client-centered therapies to help people of all ages and abilities “develop, recover, and improve the skills needed for daily living and working.” (U.S. Bureau of Labor)

-Gotta Be OT

Occupational therapy provides holistic, person-centred support to those whose health and/or wellbeing prevents them from doing the daily activities that matter to them.They deliver purposeful meaningful activity and believe that doing things that you enjoy has a positive impact on your health and well being. Our occupations or activities provided us with a role, routine and structure - and define who we are...These professionals are dual trained in physical and mental health.

OT can help individuals grow and learn and find meaning and fulfillment through the occupations that they choose to engage in.

-The Occupational Therapy Hub

Occupational Therapy is a holistic field that addresses many aspects of a person’s life; their Activities of Daily Living or occupations, from the individual to the environment. Holistic Occupational Therapy combines OT with complementary and integrative health.

-Holistic OT

Occupational therapy education promotes integration of philosophical and theoretical knowledge, values, beliefs, ethics, and technical skills for broad application to practice in order to improve human participation and quality of life for those individuals with and without impairments and limitations.

-ABC Therapeutics

OT is different than PT because OT will ask you about your roles as a spouse, as a parent, and as a person who has things they like to do, and will work with you to help you not only participate in them in the current state you are in through compensatory strategies or environmental modifications, but also will work with you to regain those motor and processing skills required to re-engage in those tasks.

Occupational therapy enables individuals across the lifespan from neonate to the eldest of all to live life in the most meaningful of ways by focusing treatment on the therapeutic use of life’s occupations (activities that are necessary or important to function as a human). It is an evidence-based, health and wellness profession that views the person as greatly influenced by their environment and the tasks that a person chooses to participate in.

-Shannen Marie OT

OT’s work with people of all ages, from premature babies to young children, adults in midlife, and seniors.

In short, the therapist looks at how you do any kind of activity or task. Then they come up with a plan to improve the way you do it to make it easier or less painful.

-WebMD

Occupational therapy is a type of health care that helps to solve the problems that interfere with a person’s ability to do the things that are important to them – everyday things like:

Self-care - getting dressed, eating, moving around the house,

Being productive - going to work or school, participating in the community, and

Leisure activities - sports, gardening, social activities.

Occupational therapists also work in a variety of settings including- home and community, institutions, industry and business, and government. 

-Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists