October 11, 2024

Occupational therapy: definition and procedure

Occupational therapy is a form of therapy that supports sick or injured people in coping with their everyday lives. It should enable the patient to take care of himself as much as possible, to participate in society and thus to gain a better quality of life.

Occupational therapy is carried out by specially trained occupational therapists. These always work holistically and take into account not only the patient’s illness-related limitations, but also social and financial factors. The following goals of occupational therapy can be summarized:

  • Definition of individual goals, the wishes and possibilities of the patient
  • Promotion and improvement of movement coordination, sensory and emotional perception
  • Development of physical and mental prerequisites for an independent and fulfilling lifestyle
  • Improving the quality of life by developing existing skills
  • Reintegration into the personal, social and, if necessary, professional environment

It’s not just adults who sometimes need occupational therapy: children with developmental disabilities also benefit from it. They are treated by specially trained paediatric occupational therapists, who also involve parents and other caregivers in the therapy. The aim of occupational therapy in childhood is above all to promote an age-appropriate development of a child’s independence and ability to act.  Indication key

Occupational therapy must be prescribed as a therapeutic measure by a doctor. The so-called indication key, a combination of letters and numbers that the doctor specifies on the prescription, designates the medical reason for the use of occupational therapy. The therapist may not supplement missing information at all or only in consultation with the doctor. History of the job title

On January 1, 1999, the law “Act on the Profession of Occupational Therapist (Occupational Therapist Act – ErgThG)” came into force. This replaced the previously official professional title “occupational and occupational therapist”. However, the term “occupational therapy” is still sometimes used today as a synonym for occupational therapy. The profession of occupational therapist or work educator is an independent training treatment occupation.

The term occupational therapy was coined much earlier. It comes from the Greek word “érgon”. Literally translated, this means as much as work, work, craft, activity or employment.When do you perform occupational therapy?

Occupational therapy is carried out as a helpful, supportive measure, for example in geriatric medicine, paediatrics and adolescent medicine, but also in psychiatry and orthopaedics. It serves, among other things, to enable patients to resume professional activity. Occupational therapy in orthopaedics and rheumatology as well as after accidents

The following diseases of the musculoskeletal system restrict patients in everyday life and may therefore require occupational therapy:

  • Broken bones
  • chronic back problems
  • Disorder of gross or fine motor skills
  • Paraplegia
  • Amputation injuries
  • Arthrosis

Occupational therapy in neurology

Patients with diseases of the nervous system are often significantly limited in their ability to act. Examples of neurological diseases where occupational therapy treatments can help are:

  • Stroke
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Cerebral palsy (movement and posture disorder after brain damage)
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Paralysis
  • Polyneuropathy (nerve damage)

Occupational therapy in psychiatry

In psychiatry, for example, patients with the following diseases benefit from occupational therapy treatment:

  • Anxiety disorder
  • OCD
  • Stress and adjustment disorder
  • Personality disorder
  • Conduct disorder
  • Depression, mania
  • Psychosis
  • Addictions (e.g. alcohol, drugs, medication, gambling)

Occupational therapy in geriatric medicine

Especially aging people are often limited by the aging process itself, as well as by diseases (multimorbidity) in their independence. Social isolation or a lack of tasks further restrict the quality of life of older people. Sudden changes such as the death of the life partner or a loss of the familiar environment can exacerbate this tendency and put a considerable strain on patients. Occupational therapy measures support the habituation and adaptation to changing living conditions. Occupational therapy is also used for diseases with a change in character and memory problems, for example for dementia. Occupational therapy for children

Especially with children, early developmental support is always useful. Waiting too long can reinforce conspicuous or unhealthy behaviors. Parents should also be trained to support their child in age-appropriate development. The following clinical pictures in childhood make occupational therapy necessary:

  • Developmental disorders or delays (e.g. after premature births)
  • Perceptual disorders (information in the brain is used and evaluated differently)
  • physical disability
  • graphomotor disorders (difficulty writing)
  • Visual or hearing impairment
  • intellectual disability
  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • Autism

What do you do during occupational therapy?

Basically, the therapy process of occupational therapy is divided into three steps:

  • Evaluation (collection of findings and definition of a goal)
  • Intervention (planning of treatment and its implementation)
  • Outcome (evaluation of therapy results)

Once the occupational therapist has assessed the patient’s situation and agreed the therapy goals with him, he chooses a therapy method suitable for the intervention. The following approaches are available to him:

  • Competence-centered relevant to everyday life
  • subject-related expression-centered
  • interactional
  • perceptual action-oriented

Competence-centered methods relevant to everyday life

Competency-centered occupational therapy is one of the most common approaches. The patient should regain lost skills with the support of the occupational therapist. This includes manual activities such as sawing, sewing and basket weaving, but also activities for coping with everyday life and leisure activities such as cooking, games or visits to the authorities. Furthermore, exercises and games that train memory performance are used.Subject-related expression-centered methods

In this therapeutic approach, the patient should learn to express inner sensations creatively and to sensitize himself to his well-being. The occupational therapist lets the patients paint or do handicrafts here, either alone or in a group. Usually he also specifies a topic. For example, he asks a depressed patient to create a picture with colors that mean joy to him. Interactional methods

This therapeutic approach is used to encourage patients to engage with other people and to promote togetherness in a social structure. Interactional occupational therapy therefore naturally takes place in partner or group work. The occupational therapist sets the group a task, for example a joint craft project or a role play. Then he observes the group in the work phase: How are conflicts resolved? Who looks for which role in the group? How do patients communicate with each other? Subsequently, the therapist reflects on the work process together with the patients and works it up. Perceptual action-oriented methods

Here, the occupational therapist conveys his sensory and body perceptions to the patient. Very simple exercises such as massaging the hands with a “hedgehog ball”, touching and recognizing materials, vibration sensations or heat and cold experiences in a water bath are helpful. Through these new experiences, the patient should learn to consciously absorb sensory experiences and classify them correctly. This therapeutic approach is mainly used in psychiatric patients or children with developmental disorders. Occupational therapy group treatments