In health care, the occupational therapist fills the role. After an injury, illness or surgery, during changes brought on by the aging process or having a first (or another) child, an occupational therapist has the knowledge and skills to help with navigating the "now."
Sally Harris, COTA (certified occupational therapy assistant), is senior COTA and clinical coordinator for Harris Health, which includes Ben Taub and Lyndon B. Johnson hospitals and Quentin Mease Rehabilitation Hospital. She also works with Ben Taub Mental Health Services as a behavioral health clinician.
As she described it, occupational therapy as a practice helps the individual live a meaningful life.
"Just like a physical therapist helps you walk, an occupational therapist helps you dance," she said. "Through collaboration with a patient, we work to restore function that gives the patient's life meaning, so if you enjoy sewing, we work to help you get back to that, using evidence-based practices to help you do what you want to do and help you get to where you want to be."
As a teen, she had worked in a doctor's office. Then, she enjoyed a long career as a musician.
"During my husband's illness, I was exposed to more medicine," Harris said, "and later, as a widow, I began looking at new professions to help support myself. During a career exploration course at Rice, when I came to information about occupational therapy, it was the right fit. It was me."
A typical day for this therapist may include pet therapy followed by an anger management class.
"I have so many 'arrows in my quiver,' they all not only restore function but also provide meaning," she said. "In this profession, we speak often about the therapeutic use of self - and this drew me to this area of medicine."
Christine Adair, OTR (registered occupational therapist), MOT (master of occupational therapy), is weekend therapy manager at TIRR Memorial Hermann and said the most rewarding part of occupational therapy is helping patients become more independent through a one-on-one connection.
"When you see patients overcoming barriers and achieving success, it's a wonderful feeling," Adair said.
The greatest challenge in occupational therapy, she said, is evaluating a patient, finding out their unique goals, thinking outside the box and making sure the patient is becoming as independent as possible.
She also said OT offers many and varied avenues for every therapist.
"There are areas of specialization, such as pediatrics, adaptive driving, adaptive vision, outpatient clinics and school systems, as well as acute care and rehabilitation hospitals," Adair said. "Corporations and job sites also call on occupational therapists to provide consultations to prevent injuries in the workplace, recommending flooring, chairs, equipment positioning and lighting." Management and administrative opportunities also provide challenges in this area of health care.
"As a manager, I am constantly called upon to adapt and modify programs to meet the needs of our patients as well as our staff," she said, "and we have a mentorship program at TIRR where OTs with a desire to learn are provided guidance and experiences to expand their abilities as therapists. It's a great career."
Traits and abilities a good therapist possesses include assessment, logic, organization, problem solving, good intuition, curiosity and creativity.
"A lot of what we do is family education and recommendations," Harris said. "We do disability assessments and functional capacity evaluations. We have measurable standards of testing to determine the extent of disability - through targeted assessments - and once the assessment is completed, we can provide recommendations to help the patient become holistically functional.
"We use relevance to give each exercise meaning. For example, if the patient enjoys fishing, we'll work with that goal attached to every exercise we ask him/her to perform."
"To become an OTA requires completion of a two-year program and passing a certification exam," Harris said, "but there's a movement in the occupational therapy professional association to require a four-year-degree to become an OTA at some point."
As a new OTA, depending on the area, the starting salary is around $35,000. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for an experienced OTA is around $53,000. The median income for the OTR is $72,000.
(Source: chron.com)
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