Health Care Team (HCT)

Therapists

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Occupational Therapy Practitioner

Often serves patients with work-related injuries, limitations following a stroke or heart attack, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, learning problems, developmental disabilities, and mental health or behavioral problems.
Provides customized treatment programs to improve a patient’s ability to perform daily activities, including comprehensive home and job site evaluations with adaptation recommendations, performance skills assessments and interventions, and adaptive equipment recommendations and usage training.
Often works independently; may or may not require physician orders to provide occupational therapy services.
May screen clients without a physician’s referral in order to determine whether they might benefit from further occupational therapy intervention.

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Who is an Occupational Therapy Practitioner?

Occupational Therapy Practitioners are Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants. They are skilled professionals whose education includes the study of human growth and development with specific emphasis on the social, emotional, and physiological effects of illness, injury, and other disabling conditions. Occupational therapy focuses on enabling people to do the activities of daily life.

What does an Occupational Therapy Practitioner do?

Services provided by Occupational Therapy Practitioners include:

customized treatment programs to improve one’s ability to perform daily activities
comprehensive home and job site evaluations with adaptation recommendations
performance skills assessments and interventions
adaptive equipment recommendations and usage training
guidance to family members and caregivers

What education, training, and experience must one have to function as an Occupational Therapy Practitioner?

The Occupational Therapist enters the field with a master’s or doctoral degree in occupational therapy. The Occupational Therapy Assistant generally earns an associate’s degree in occupational therapy. Practitioners must complete supervised clinical internships in a variety of health care settings and pass a national examination.

How and by whom is an Occupational Therapy Practitioner supervised?

In traditional settings such as hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and clinics, depending on facility policy and state regulatory guidelines, Occupational Therapists may work autonomously. They may or may not require physician orders to provide occupational therapy services. Occupational Therapy Assistants must be supervised by Occupational Therapists, although the nature and frequency of supervision is variable and dependent upon the skills and experience of the assistant, as well as state regulations.

What are the typical day-to-day activities of an Occupational Therapy Practitioner?

Occupational Therapists evaluate clients, plan and implement interventions to meet individual client goals, and measure outcomes. Occupational Therapy Practitioners provide direct services, consultation, and consumer education. They access evidence to guide best practice and work within the team approach, coordinating services with other disciplines. Occupational Therapy Practitioners may also be researchers, academicians, fieldwork educators, managers, administrators, private practitioners, and entrepreneurs. Occupational Therapy Assistants implement interventions planned by the therapist and may participate in aspects of evaluation and outcome measurement, including data collection and administration of tests.

Must an Occupational Therapy Practitioner be licensed or certified to function in his or her role as part of the health care team?

Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants become certified when they pass their respective National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy certification examinations. Every three years, they may apply for voluntary recertification. Though continued certification is voluntary, licensure is mandatory, and the majority of states require evidence of continuing professional development/continuing education. Occupational therapy is regulated in all 50 states and different states have various types of regulation that range from licensure, the strongest form of regulation, to title protection or trademark law, the weakest form of regulation.

What types of patients would benefit from the care of an Occupational Therapy Practitioner?

Some of the health conditions that benefit from occupational therapy include, but are not limited to:

work-related injuries including lower back problems or repetitive stress injuries
limitations following a stroke or heart attack
arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or other serious chronic conditions
birth injuries, learning problems, or developmental disabilities
burns, spinal cord injuries, or amputations
fractures or other injuries from falls, sports injuries, or accidents

How and when does an Occupational Therapy Practitioner become involved in the care of a particular patient?

Depending on facility policy and state regulatory guidelines, Occupational Therapists may or may not require physician orders to initiate occupational therapy services. Though physician referral may be required for evaluation and treatment, therapists may screen clients without a referral in order to determine whether they might benefit from further occupational therapy intervention. At what point the practitioner becomes involved in care is dependent on the client’s condition and capacity to benefit from occupational therapy services.

Professional organizations for Occupational Therapy Practitioners:

American Occupational Therapy Association
Each state also has its own occupational therapy association, and each is an affiliate of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

For more information on Occupational Therapy Practitioners, refer to the following organization websites and publications:

American Occupational Therapy Association. Occupational Therapy Practice Framework Domain & Process. Bethesda, Md: American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc, 2002.

Moyers, Penelope, and Dale, Lucinda M. The Guide to Occupational Therapy Practice. 2nd ed. Bethesda, Md: AOTA Press, 2007.

Contributed by:
Laurel Cargill Radley, MS, OTR, American Occupational Therapy Association