The Role OT Plays in Skilled Nursing Facilities

The Role OT Plays in Skilled Nursing Facilities

Occupational therapy (OT) is defined as therapeutic practice of everyday actions in order to establish, recover, or maintain a person’s typical daily living activities. In other words, it helps individuals get back to doing everyday activities. The month of April was Occupational Therapy month, so to close out this month of recognition, below are some facts that describe the role OT plays in Skilled Nursing Facilities.

What is the role of OT for short-term care patients?

1. Focusing on patient’s daily activities related to their own at-home environment
2. Training in how to perform daily activities with equipment, such as a walker or cane
3. Preparing the patient and family on community re-entry, reintroducing them to functioning in a public setting
4. Assessing modifications needed to the home-setting to compensate for mobility level
5. Helping patients increase mobility for their return to work

What is the role of OT for long-term care residents?

1. Enhancing their level of independence by training the resident to perform self-care tasks
2. Enhancing the residents’ ability to perform everyday activities, such as ability to use the phone or the staff call system
3. Helping residents with cognitive and perceptual deficits to maximize abilities related to attention span, orientation, sequencing, and/or memory

Information received from https://www.therapyctr.com/ots-role-in-skilled-nursing-facilities/