Chicago Occupational Therapy

Chicago Occupational Therapy
When a patient has lost his or her ability to perform the simple everyday tasks that we often take for granted, it can have a severely negative impact on that individual’s quality of life. But occupational therapy can help to educate the patient on regaining the ability to perform routine activities of daily living such as dressing oneself, preparing and consuming meals, maintaining hygiene and using the bathroom without assistance. A major component of any recovery process is the capability for returning to a normal life and restoring the independence of the patient.
Occupational therapy is an important catalyst to ensuring the patient can regain that lifestyle to promote positive health outcomes, increase self-esteem, and keep the patient on a path to healing.
How Occupational Therapy Works
Our representatives will discuss the patient’s particular challenges and devise ways to best tackle those challenges for preserving his or her ability to take on activities of daily living again. This form of therapy works to get the patient in a position to regain the capabilities for performing these routines once again through adaptation. Occupational therapists focus on the limitations of the patient and turn these into methods for empowerment. This may require the introduction of assistive devices that enable the patient to do every day tasks without pain, discomfort, or struggle.
Occupational therapy helps to develop fine motor skills and train the patient to work around the disabilities that are causing difficulty by creating new and innovative methods of movement for performing routine tasks without assistance from others.
These strategies for success are developed alongside the patient’s Primary Care Physician and any other medical professionals assisting in the patient’s care. Occupational therapists help the patient return to enjoying everyday activities through a set of patient evaluations that include the following:
Initial Patient Assessment
The first part of the evaluation process focuses on treating patients at the most fundamental level, which means the occupational therapist is examining the person’s ability to perform activities of daily living and the specific behavioral disorders and limitations that are hindering that ability. This assessment takes into account primary environmental challenges as well as the challenges of the individual where movement, flexibility, mobility, and functionality of the limbs, body, and/or mental capacity are the root cause of diminished capability for performing everyday tasks.
During the initial assessment, along with subsequent assessments and monitoring, the occupational therapist consults with the patient, medical professionals, family, and friends to help the patient adapt and learn how to regain a normal way of life.
Targeted Goals for Treatment
Once the initial assessment has been completed, the occupational therapist will work with the patient to devise objectives for success and create the appropriate short and long term treatment options for reaching those objectives. This process takes into account a variety of essential factors for building the best possible treatment option such as the patient’s lifestyle, environmental advantages and disadvantages, habits, and stage of development in which the patient’s current challenges are hindering his or her ability to perform normal everyday activities.


Implementing a Therapy Plan
After the evaluations are made and a plan for treatment decided upon, the time comes to put this plan into action. Occupational therapists help patients re-learn the actions and movements that have been lost as a result of injury, illness, or other medical condition that has impacted the patient’s capacities for self-subsistence.
The occupational therapist begins to train the patient in new techniques and methods for performing daily tasks by helping the individual adapt to the environment and surroundings in which he or she lives and works. This may require certain assistive equipment and teaching the patient how to use these devices in everyday settings. The goal is to eliminate the barriers to success and help the patient thrive without pain or limitation and overcoming the restrictions that are preventing the individual from performing these duties by him or herself.
Some of these methods for adaptation and improvement of fine motor skills may incorporate the following:
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- Educating the patient on new and different methods for doing simple everyday things that are no longer feasible, whether it’s putting on clothes, brushing teeth, or even operating small and large appliances around the house.
- Train the patient in using assistive devices such as elevated toilet seats, wheelchairs, or railings in the shower.
- Incorporate new methods for maintaining balance and building muscle strength in areas of the body that assist in keeping that balance.
- Redesign the interior of the home to help the patient move around easier and prevent injuries that may be sustained in a slip and fall incident.
- Create an organization method for identifying medication, household utensils, and other everyday items the patient relies upon for self-subsistence.
- Improve hand/eye coordination and increase fine motor skills to improve the patient’s reflexes and responses to environmental stimuli and reach out and grab small and large items
Emphasis on Teamwork
Starting from the assessment period, occupational therapists create working relationships with the patient, medical professionals, family, and friends to ensure successful positive outcomes for the patient. This cooperative arrangement involves everyone from medical professionals to loved ones to caregivers who have all been tasked with the patient’s healing and recovery after an illness, one or more traumatic injuries, or any other medical condition that has impacted the patient’s motor skills or other mental or physical capabilities.
Speak to one of our representatives at Anuco Home Health to discuss how occupational therapy can improve the quality of life for you or someone you love and help to regain independence and self-sufficiency.
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Get in touch
Fax: (773)417-8390
Email: referral@anucohhc.com
Address: 17 N.Leclaire Avenue Chicago, IL 60644-4104