definition,history,aims and scope of occupational therapy

1. RAVI RANJAN KUMAR
(OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST)
MOT(JAMIA HAMDARD) NEW DELHI
BOT (NIOH)KOLKATA

2. What is Occupation??????
• Occupation is “groups of activities and tasks of
everyday life, named, organized and given value
and meaning by individuals and a culture.
Occupation is everything people do to occupy
themselves, including looking after themselves
(self-care), enjoying life (leisure), and contributing
to the social and economic fabric of their
communities (productivity)” (CAOT,1998) .
• “the activities that comprise our life experience
and can be named in the culture” (Larson, Wood and
Clark,2003).

3. Occupational therapy
• OT can be described as the art and science of directing
Man’s participation in selected activities to restore,
reinforce and enhance performance, facilitate learning of
skills and functions essential for adaptation and
productivity, to diminish or correct pathology, and to
promote and maintain health (AOTA, 1972).
• OT is a method of treatment for which the primary area of
concern is the patient’s ability to perform functions
required in day to day life. This method of treatment is also
concerned with the social, psychological and cognitive
development of patient.
• OT is the use of purposeful activity or interventions to
promote health and achieve functional outcomes.

4. History of OT
• In the early years, OT was taken as means to keep patients with
chronic illness occupied, hence the name was derived as
occupational therapy. Its contribution was limited to the field of
chronic illness like- mental illness, TB, leprosy etc.
• During intermediate years OT was also practised as a means to
provide mental diversion to patients suffering from physical and/or
psychological trauma. Thus its contribution expanded to the fields
of psychiatry and physical illness.
• Since the world wars, it became an important means for restoring
physical and mental functioning of patients specially war veterans.
• In present times, OT has become a method of treating the effects of
various impairments including those which affect the development
of individual as in Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, Learning
Disability etc. Now the term ‘Occupational’ represents the concept
of ‘pursuit, participation or being engaged’ in an activity.

5. History of OT cont..
• Eleanor Clark Slagle is known as the "mother of Occupational Therapy." With a
degree in social work, she went to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD in
1912 and and began directing the department of occupational therapy. She
opened the first professional school for occupational therapy.
• Dr. William Rush Dunton Jr. is know as the "father of OT." He was a psychiatrist and
educator who published the first account of the Occupational Therapy profession.
• American Occupational Therapy Association was founded on March 17, 1917 as
the National Society for the Promotion of Occupational Therapy. It was renamed
AOTA in 1923. It is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to expanding
and refining the knowledge base of Occupational Therapy. It provides support to
research and education through grants and scholarships.
• The first department of occupational therapy (OT) was established at the King
Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai, India in 1950. The founder of the ‘OT
profession in India’ as well as the ‘first school of OT in India/Asia’ was Mrs. Kamla
V. Nimbkar [Elizabeth Lundy].
• All India Occupational Therapists' Association (AIOTA) was founded by Mrs. Kamala
V. Nimbkar in the year 1952.

6. OT as profession
• WFOT defines occupational therapy as "a client-
centred health profession concerned with promoting
health and well-being through occupation.
• OT practice means the therapeutic use of purposeful
and meaningful occupations (goal-directed activities)
to evaluate and treat individuals who have a disease or
disorder, impairment, activity limitation, or
participation restriction that interferes with their
ability to function independently in daily life roles and
to promote health and wellness.

7. Aims of OT
1.To facilitate the development of performance
components of the clients thus minimise the
dysfunction.
Performance components are:
Neuro-muscular
Sensory integrative
Psychological
Social
Cognitive

8. 2. To enhance independence skills of person.
Which are:
Self care /ADL
Home/school/work
Play/leisure

9. 3. To modify the environment with which a
person interacts. Environment includes
various factors:
Architecture Furniture
Clothing
Personal care
equipment
House hold
appliances
Work tools

10. 4. To facilitate development of proper position of
the body. It provides optimal motor activity.
5. To provide sensory stimulation.- it accelerates
maturation of nervous system thus increasing
person’s awareness about environment.
6. To enhance hand function.- it improves the
capacity of hand manipulation and hand
dexterity.
7. To correct maladaptive behaviour.- improves self
image, self assertiveness, reduction in socially
unacceptable behaviour.
8. To prescribe extrinsic adaptation.

11. Scope of OT
Occupational therapy can be a major contributors
in:
a. Hospitals: general, psychiatric, orthopaedic
b. Centres: early interventions, rehabilitation
centers
c. Special schools: school for children with
intellectual impairment
d. Homes: geriatric homes, home for person with
multiple disability
e. Workshops: sheltered workshop, industrial set
ups