Occupational Therapy

Common occupational therapy interventions include helping children with disabilities to participate fully in school and social situations, helping people recovering from injury to regain skills, and providing supports for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes. Occupational therapy services typically include:

• an individualised evaluation, during which the client/family and occupational therapist determine the person’s goals,
• customised intervention to improve the person’s ability to perform daily activities and reach the goals, and
• an outcomes evaluation to ensure that the goals are being met and/or make changes to the intervention plan.

Occupational therapy services also include comprehensive evaluations of the client’s home and other environments (e.g., workplace, school), recommendations for adaptive equipment and training in its use, and guidance and education for family members and caregivers. Occupational therapists have a holistic perspective, in which the focus is on adapting the environment to fit the person, and the person is an integral part of the therapy team.

Hand therapy is a unique specialty practice area of occupational therapy. It is typically concerned with treating orthopedic-based upper-extremity conditions to optimise the functional use of the hand and arm. Click on the button below to learn more.

Driving is an important skill and part of a routine to some clients. Having a medical condition or a physical disability could affect one’s ability to drive safely, which in turn affects public safety. An occupational therapist (OT) certified in driving assessment assesses one’s ability to drive safely despite having a medical condition or a physical disability. The certified OT may also advise on car modifications, or driving lessons, if necessary, before OT driving assessment starts.

With aging, physical and emotional changes occur – these changes may impede functional independence and hence reduce one’s quality of life. With our Active Aging Clinic, healthy aging is promoted in the community through a tailored exercise program that helps to maintain pain-free functional activity in the later years. Rehabilitation is focused on strengthening muscles, maintaining joint mobility, and preventing falls. Everyone can age healthily, active and pain-free!

Neurological conditions such as stroke, head injury may result in motor, cognitive, and perceptual functions. Often, survivors of neurological conditions may need a caregiver, at least in the initial phases of recovery. In neurological and neuropathy rehabilitation, occupational therapy aims to empower clients to maximise independence in their everyday activities, as well as to provide training to the new caregivers. Upper limb rehabilitation and cognitive rehabilitation are also some of the common occupational therapy interventions in neurological rehabilitation.

Having experienced a cardiac event, clients may find that what they used to be able to do in everyday living to not come as easily. Lower quality of life, stress, anxiety, loss of confidence are some common experiences. Occupational therapy can help by advising on strategies to manage, possible activity modifications, prescribe appropriate assistive device(s), and possible ways of adapting the environment to empower clients to be able to lead their lives as independently as possible.

Low vision rehabilitation is like physical therapy for someone who has lost a limb. Its purpose is to develop strategies to maximise or substitute for diminished sight in order to maintain independence and a sense of self-worth. This rebuilding and reinforcement of the visual foundation are accomplished through the identification of goals, introduction to assistive devices, and training. Rehabilitation is not just an introduction to low vision devices. That may not occur until some time into the programme, after the patient has gone through evaluation and training. Only then can appropriate recommendations for low vision devices be made. Depending upon the patient’s needs, our programme will provide education, support groups, and individual counseling. It will help the patient to realise that using such devices and techniques is a sign of tenacity and courage, not weakness or defeat.

Ergonomics is the science of matching work environments to fit the physiological, psychological, and cognitive capabilities of the worker. Using the fundamental skill of activity analysis, occupational therapy considers the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial elements at play, and makes recommendations to optimize productivity in the work setting.

Our occupational therapist will consider all of your needs – physical, psychological, social, and environmental. This support can make a real difference giving people a renewed sense of purpose, opening up new horizons, and changing the way they feel about the future.