Why is Theory Important for Occupational Therapists?

After spending an excessive amount of time in a particular field of work, it's understandable how some people can get into a rut and do the same things everyday for every client. But for me, occupational therapy is different. Yes you will always have those people that don't want to do the background research and really dig deep to try and help a client, but for me, I believe it is an essential part of the job to know, understand, and use Frames of Reference throughout your entire career. From the article, I can see why the author was upset with her mother's occupational therapist. Although I am still learning about Frames of Reference, I believe it is a key part of being a successful OT. Seeing a client as a person rather than a diagnosis is an important aspect for getting a client back to their everyday routines and occupations. Having a holistic mindset and explaining to a client why he or she is doing a particular activity can give purpose to a client's OT sessions. Sometimes I feel that people lose sight of their purpose within their job and forget the whole reason why they decided to go into a particular profession. Therefore, I believe the Frame of Reference theory is essential to being a successful OT.

Comments

  1. Dr. LancasterMarch 16, 2017 at 10:06 AM

    "Seeing a client as a person rather than a diagnosis is an important aspect for getting a client back to their everyday routines and occupations." YES!! So true. Well stated, Grace!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OT 532: Journal Article Review

The journal article I chose was a study based on occupation based groups for low-income urban youths. It was a qualitative study that looked at after school youth groups that allowed kids to talk about any anger they may have and how they can manage that anger and turn it into something positive. These youth groups also allowed the kids to choose the leisure activities they wanted to participate in, which was shown to create a more positive and interactive atmosphere that increased the mood of the kids. These groups allowed the participants to engage in meaningful activities and interact with each other in a way that might not be typical or normal on a day to day basis. The study was phenomenological and took information from the perspectives of the individual group members. The groups were weekly and they involved children attending religious, inner-city school. The study was supervised by a certified occupational therapist and 22 occupational therapy students. Seventy kids, ranging
Read more

Specialty Areas: NICU

There are several certifications that are required if you are interested in a certain area of practice in the field of occupational therapy. One of the specialties within the field of occupational therapy is pediatrics (BCP) and one of the certifications within the area of pediatrics is for the NICU. I think it is extremely important to have a certification in order to work in the neonatal ICU. Not only would you be working with new born babies, but you would be working with premature life. It's an extremely important job title and something that needs to be taken seriously. Parents are trusting you to help their premature baby find new life and successfully graduate from the NICU. Being a NICU occupational therapist should not be an entry-level job and you should have a few years of practice before beginning to think about going into that specific specialty. This plays into AOTA's vision 2025 because even though it might be seen as just working with babies in the NICU, it is
Read more