What is Occupational Therapy for Older Adults?

Occupational therapy is a type of therapy that helps older adults do daily tasks and other activities safely and more easily. This can include things such as eating, bathing, and making meals.

These and other tasks can become harder or painful for an older adult to do on their own due to an injury or health condition, disability, or in some cases because of normal aging. Occupational therapy can help you learn to do these activities in a way that’s easier for you, to help you regain and maintain some independence.

Occupational therapy is done by specially trained professionals called occupational therapists (OTs). They have a advanced degree and are licensed to practice. OT’s sometimes work with occupational therapy assistants and aides (OTAs), who can also help with your treatment.

What kinds of activities do OT’s help with?

OTs can help older adults with many types of tasks. These include daily self-care tasks (activities of daily living) such as:

Eating
Bathing and getting dressed
Using a toilet
Moving from one place to another, such as from a bed or chair to a toilet, tub, or shower (called transferring)

An OT can also help with more complex daily activities (instrumental activities of daily living). These tasks require more thinking (cognitive) or social skills, and include:

Food shopping and making meals
Using a phone or computer
Cleaning and doing laundry
Managing daily medicines
Managing finances
Driving

What conditions can be helped by occupational therapy?

Many conditions can affect a person’s ability to do the things they enjoy doing or need to do. Occupational therapy can help people with conditions such as:

Stroke
Dementia
Brain injury
Alzheimer disease
Arthritis
Multiple sclerosis
Diabetes
Chronic pain
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
Vision problems

What happens during an occupational therapy session?

An OT will first do an assessment to find your current level of function. As part of this, the OT will review your health history. They will watch you do certain tasks to see how well you are functioning. They will also talk with you about the tasks that are hard for you to do. They may also talk with other people involved in your care, such as a family member, caregiver, or other healthcare providers.

The OT will then work with you to create a treatment plan with short-term and long-term goals. They can show you helpful exercises, assess your home environment for safety, and teach you new ways of doing things. They can also help you to get certain tools or products (called assistive devices) as needed, that can help you to do things more easily. And they can show you how to use these devices safely and correctly.

For instance, based on your needs, an OT may do things such as:

Show you an easier way to do tasks such as getting dressed
Show you how to safely get in and out of the shower
Teach you exercises to help improve your strength, flexibility, or hand-eye coordination
Do an assessment to make sure your home is safe and well-lit
Help to prevent falls by securing or removing throw rugs and getting rid of clutter
Help you to get certain devices and teach you how to use them, such as a raised toilet seat, bath chair, cane, reacher, or pill organizer