What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy is based on doing, or occupation. Occupational therapy involves enabling individuals and groups to do the things that they need and want to do in everyday life, and assists people to develop and maintain a meaningful lifestyle. Occupations are anything (tasks and activities) that people do. Doing is only possible when there is a person (to do the task), a task, and the environment in which the task takes place. Occupational therapists intervene with:

• The individual person - improving or maintaining their level of physical, cognitive (thinking), affective (emotional) and social ability.
• The environment - manipulating or adapting the physical, social, cultural and institutional environment.
• The task - analysing the task, comparing the demands of the task with the individual's abilities, and changing the task to make it possible for the person to do.

Occupational therapists are based in a variety of clinical and community settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation units, schools, community health centres and people's homes. Some examples of what occupational therapists do include:

• Enable people to dress themselves again after a stroke.
• Improve the play and movement skills of a baby or child with a disability
• Visit a disabled or elderly person to make their home easier and safer for them to use.
• Assess the driving ability of someone with a disability.
• Visit work places to assist people to modify their jobs and design work areas to better suit their needs.
• Help people select equipment and appliances, including wheelchairs, assistive technology and dressing aids, to increase their independence.
• Working with adults with learning difficulties to improve their skills for living in the community.
• Work with builders, architects and local authorities to design public places and homes that will suit people with various different abilities.
• Use activities, such as crafts, gardening or cooking to improve a person's hand function.
• Work with people with mental health difficulties to assist them in planning and organising a meaningful lifestyle.
• Show someone with memory difficulties how to use memory aids and cues.

Career Opportunities

Career opportunities are excellent both in Ireland and abroad. The course is World Federation of Occupational Therapists approved which means the qualification is recognised worldwide, though some countries may require a therapist to sit an exam for local registration. There are also many opportunities for further study and development of specialised expertise in areas such as physical and psychiatric rehabilitation, hand therapy, health services management, learning disability, disability studies, community occupational therapy.