Overview of Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy is a client-centred health profession. Occupational Therapists (OTs) work in the areas of physical and mental health. Occupational Therapists aim to minimise disability and promote independence and engagement in all aspects of daily life. They work with people of all ages to help them overcome difficulties resulting from a variety of injuries, illnesses, age and disability. The profession helps to encourage development and facilitate recovery, enabling people to participate in meaningful activities and promote independence for as long as possible (World Federation of Occupational Therapists 2012).
Occupational Therapists can work in a range of settings including:
They work in a variety of clinical areas such as community rehabilitation, orthopaedics, respiratory, accident and emergency, palliative care, hand therapy, neurology, dementia care, mental health, learning disabilities and paediatrics.
Their work can involve:
Due to the nature of the job, OTs often work with people who may experience pain of some sort. OTs assess pain through interviewing people to find out how pain impacts on the persons life. Where appropriate a range of assessments such as visual analogue scales, anatomical pain drawings, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Cormack 1988) can also be used. These enable the OT to gain an understanding of how severe the persons pain is, and how it is affecting their function and everyday lives (Strong et al.). Treatment can then be planned appropriately.
Occupational Therapists can work in a range of settings including:
- Hospitals (General, community and psychiatric)
- Schools
- Day centres
- Private care
- Prisons
- Community settings
- Clinics
They work in a variety of clinical areas such as community rehabilitation, orthopaedics, respiratory, accident and emergency, palliative care, hand therapy, neurology, dementia care, mental health, learning disabilities and paediatrics.
Their work can involve:
- Assessing and planning treatment
- Goal setting with service users
- Interventions/group work
- Equipment provision
- Discharge planning
- Mobility and posture education
- Splinting
- Research
- Managing chronic health problems
Due to the nature of the job, OTs often work with people who may experience pain of some sort. OTs assess pain through interviewing people to find out how pain impacts on the persons life. Where appropriate a range of assessments such as visual analogue scales, anatomical pain drawings, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Cormack 1988) can also be used. These enable the OT to gain an understanding of how severe the persons pain is, and how it is affecting their function and everyday lives (Strong et al.). Treatment can then be planned appropriately.
Dr. Kornblau discusses the role of OTs when working with patients who have chronic pain. The methods of pain management OTs use would therefore apply to people that have chronic pelvic pain. Please go to the 'Quiz and Games' section on the website to test your knowledge!
Occupational Therapy and Chronic Pelvic Pain
- According to Price et al (2012), one in eight people live with chronic pain across the UK.
- If untreated it can have a significant impact on quality of life for the person living with pain, family members and caregivers.
- Pain is complex and subjective. People living with chronic pain often experience depression and they tend to die younger that people living without pain.
- There is a financial burden placed on the country’s economy in terms of benefits paid and loss of working days due to pain related work absences.
- Pain is one of the most frequent reasons why people seek healthcare for themselves and their children (LaChapelle 2004 cited CAOT 2012; Price et al 2012).
- According to CAOT (2012), pain is generally under assessed and therefore poorly managed.
- OTs are well placed to use their skills to assess pain and provide patients with interventions to optimize occupational performance and engagement in meaningful daily activities. Unfortunately evidence of the benefits of occupational therapy and pain management is weak in this country.
- However according to the British Pain Society (2013), many healthcare professionals including OTs play a role in pain management care.
- Pain is biopsychosocial in nature and impacts on all levels of occupation and being.
- According to the British Pain Society (2013), pain management programmes must aim to enable people to achieve as normal a life as possible by reducing physical disabilities, reducing emotional distress and improving individual self management of their pain.
How can Occupational Therapy Help?
“Occupational therapists address the issues that get in the way
of being able to do the things that are important, including the
activities that allow you to independently take care of yourself
and your family, and those activities that give you satisfaction
and a sense of purpose in life."
- Klinger and Klassen, 2011
of being able to do the things that are important, including the
activities that allow you to independently take care of yourself
and your family, and those activities that give you satisfaction
and a sense of purpose in life."
- Klinger and Klassen, 2011
- Occupational Therapists help people to live and function productively (Townsend and Polatajiko 2007).
- OTs will assess the impact of the pain in the patient’s life.
- OTs will then consider strategies to help the patient manage his or her pain.
- Examples of strategies may include relaxation activities, providing gentle exercises to increase strength and stamina or teach the patient how to pace and prioritise their daily activities.
- OTs may also provide the patient with assistive equipment and technology.
- OTs are well placed to help the patient to return to work by carrying out an assessment to determine what activities the patient can do comfortably
Future considerations for Occupational Therapists
- Research must be carried out to ascertain the benefits of occupational therapy and pain management to build a bank of good quality evidence.
- Assessment for pain should become part of the Occupational Therapy Process
Pain Assesment Examples
Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
Figure 1 is an example of a visual analogue scale that Occupational Therapist's may use with service users to gain an understanding of how severe their current pain is. This is a self-reported measure which means that each individual will interpret it differently, however it can be a useful tool to monitor the progress of treatment or an intervention with an individual.
Figure 1 is an example of a visual analogue scale that Occupational Therapist's may use with service users to gain an understanding of how severe their current pain is. This is a self-reported measure which means that each individual will interpret it differently, however it can be a useful tool to monitor the progress of treatment or an intervention with an individual.
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