What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy is a treatment and a profession.
Occupational therapists are interested in how people live their lives. They help people to become as able as possible wherever they live, and whatever health issues they may have.
Occupational therapists use ‘doing’ as the therapy. They think with you about all areas of your life; any activities that you do or would like to do that are important to you, school/college/ lifelong learning, leisure, family, friends, and work.
An occupational therapist will discuss with you how your day goes, from first thing in the morning until last thing at night, as well as how you sleep. Then you can come up with a list of things you want to improve, and work out together how this will happen, using activities that you are interested in.
We know that people are ‘doing’ beings and their health is linked to how well they feel they can ‘do’. Occupational therapists really focus on the whole person
What could an occupational therapist help me with?
- Finding new interests or get back to doing the ones that are important to you
- Developing skills such as coping with problems, getting along with others, looking after yourself, managing your money,
- Getting yourself to school, college, work and leisure activities
- Connecting with your local community
- Doing everyday things such as keeping clean, eating, sleeping, cooking, cleaning, shopping, getting dressed
- They may use equipment that helps you to be more independent (or link you with the best person to do this with you)
- And many more things that they will discuss with you and your family (with your consent)
How will we decide what to work on?
Your occupational therapist will talk with you and you will decide what to work on together.
They will change the way they do this when they need to. This is to make sure you understand each other.
Who is my occupational therapist?
If you’re working with a Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust occupational therapist, you may be given their:
- Name
- Contact phone number
- Working hours
Feedback
Please let your care team know if you want to comment on whether:
- this information is useful
- any information is missing
- you do not understand the information
Do you have concerns or complaints?
If you have concerns or complaints about a service, you can:
- tell a member of staff
- call our complaints team – freephone 0800 052 0219
- email [email protected]
Information in other languages and formats
All our website and leaflet information can be made available in many formats. Please ask a member of staff if you would like this information in another language, large print, audio or braille.
