Let's begin with what Occupational Therapy is not about: NOT about assisting you to find a job, NOT about constructing a house, NOT physical therapy and it’s NOT only about aged and disabled people. According to the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa (OTASA), Occupational Therapy is the only service that helps people over the lifespan to do the stuff that they need and require to do in their everyday activities.
According to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, OT is a CLIENT- CENTERED health profession involved with supporting HEALTH and WELL-BEING by OCCUPATION. The main purpose of OT is to Empower people to engage in the liveliness of daily life. Occupational Therapy South Africa can work with children and youth. We help them with writing, reading, and learning issues, play, and sensory complications. We guide parents and instructors and assist with self-care, socialization, and eating problems.
Occupational therapists in South Africa work for Health and Wellness. We may work in an outpatient environment for stress management, in critical care for pain management, in schools for bullying prevention, and in community environments for ergonomic assessments. We also work in Mental Health to improve, prevent, and intervene for mental disorders. We provide targeted and extensive assistance and intensive invasions. We assist in geriatrics too! For aged people that need to drive or have low vision or dementia. We evaluate fall risk and adjust home surroundings.
Occupational therapists work simultaneously with optometrists, ophthalmologists, and others to discuss observed impairments. We help older adults, people with Traumatic Brain Trauma, adults that need to drive again, and kids with visual impairments live life to its whole. OTs also work with adults with various sicknesses to address physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and environmental needs. We work in the assistive technology area as well! We can instruct, support, and encourage the use of AT to enhance our clients’ quality of living.
OTs improve occupational justice. We help people that experience occupational deprivation, occupational apartheid, occupational marginalization, occupational imbalance, and occupational alienation for their occupational rights. Such people include foreigners, convicts, homeless people or people with inabilities, and others. Lastly, we work in community environments, such as schools and other government homes.
