I THOUGHT PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY WAS THE SAME THING!

BY : KIMBERLY RAMSEY

Occupational Therapy is helping patients gain back their activities of daily living (ADL’s), which are the things that you do daily, such as brushing your teeth, eating, bathing, grooming yourself, and personal hygiene.

Not only do they work with ADL’s, they work with the patient holistically, instead of just looking at the problem.

For example, with a stroke patient, if they lose the ability to dress themselves by themselves, they help assist the patient with getting dresses until they are able to regain the ability to do it on their own and do it independently again.

They don’t only work with stroke patients, they also work with patients that have fractures and broken bones, depression, congestive heart failure, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, dementia, Alzheimer, and Parkinson’s, just to name a few.

Sometimes people have a hard time distinguishing the differences between Occupational and Physical Therapy until the physician recommends it to the patient. That is when people finally see a difference between the two therapies.

Some of the activities may seem similar, but the focuses of the two are different.

The main misconception that people experience is that either they are the same thing or that they get the two mixed up thinking that occupational therapy is physical therapy, vice versa.

Another thing that people get confused about occupational therapy is that you go to them to help you find a job or help you find a career for your life.

Occupational therapy is just as beneficial as physical therapy, but it really depends on the area of focus and the accident that has occurred.

Occupational therapy may be needed where physical therapy is not and vice versa, so there is no therapy more beneficial than the other, because the main goal is to helping the patient gain back their independence or at least to their maximal function.

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