Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is a health profession that promotes health and well-being across the lifespan to enable clients to maximize their participation in meaningful activities (occupations).
How Occupational Therapy Can Help
Occupational therapists uses work, self care, and play activities to increase independent function, enhance development, and prevent disability. The OT may include the adaptation of tasks or environments to achieve maximum independence and enhance the person’s quality of life.
Occupational therapists work to restore the client’s ability to carry out activities of daily living like eating, bathing, dressing, returning to work and driving, as well as independent living skills, such as homemaking and money management.
To begin, an occupational therapist will try to find out why you cannot do what you would like or need to do…
Depending on your situation, an occupational therapists may check:
- What you can and cannot do physically (this includes your strength, coordination, balance, or other physical abilities)
- What you can and cannot do mentally (your memory, organization skills, coping strategies, or other mental abilities)
- What materials you use to participate in the occupation (for example, work tools, furniture, cooking utensils, clothes, or other materials)
- The social and emotional support available to you in your home, school, work and community
the physical setup of your house, school, classroom, work place, community, or other environment.
Many occupational therapists use the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) which measures change in your ability to perform occupations over a period time. It measures how important the activity is to you and how satisfied you are with your performance in it.
Arthritis Management
There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. The word arthritis comes from the Greek word “arthron” meaning joint and the Latin word “itis” meaning inflammation. Aboriginal people have a two to three times higher rate of Rheumatoid Arthritis than anyone else in the world. Living a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, stress management, eating well, being a non-smoker and getting a good night’s sleep has a positive impact on living with arthritis. Early diagnosis and treatment of arthritis can prevent joint deformity and loss of function.
Service Providers
The Arthritis Management Program is delivered by an Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care (ACPAC) therapist. The ACPAC program is a 10-month certificate-based program hosted by St. Michael’s Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, in collaboration with the University of Toronto.
The purpose of the ACPAC
program is to train and prepare experienced occupational therapists, physiotherapists and registered nurses to deliver arthritis care in an extended practice role in response to:
- A progressive decline in traditional arthritis care specialists resulting in increased wait times for patients
- The need for an enhanced inter-professional approach to care for greater efficiency in the management of patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritis
Services Offered:
- Assessment
- Review of your current symptoms/ limitations
- Review of your medical history and current medication list
- Complete musculoskeletal assessment
- Determine if arthritis is inflammatory or non-inflammatory
We can provide support for arthritis management which may include:
- Recommend additional testing (e.g. blood work, x-rays)
- Assist with referring to and securing appointments with other healthcare providers, including specialists in arthritis ma nagement (e.g. rheumatologist, physiotherapist, and traditional healer)
- Provide education (1:1 and/or group setting) on specific management techniques (e.g. joint protection strategies, energy cons ervation, pain management, therapeutic exercise, modalities, splints and orthotics, and assistive devices)
- Assist with accessing available funding sources for pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treatment
- Assist specialists and primary care providers to monitor your arthritis using the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) whenever possible to eliminate long distance travel
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is a health profession that promotes health and well-being across the lifespan to enable clients to maximize their participation in meaningful activities (occupations).
How Occupational Therapy Can Help
Occupational therapists uses work, self care, and play activities to increase independent function, enhance development, and prevent disability. The OT may include the adaptation of tasks or environments to achieve maximum independence and enhance the person’s quality of life.
Occupational therapists work to restore the client’s ability to carry out activities of daily living like eating, bathing, dressing, returning to work and driving, as well as independent living skills, such as homemaking and money management.
To begin, an occupational therapist will try to find out why you cannot do what you would like or need to do…
Depending on your situation, an occupational therapists may check:
- What you can and cannot do physically (this includes your strength, coordination, balance, or other physical abilities)
- What you can and cannot do mentally (your memory, organization skills, coping strategies, or other mental abilities)
- What materials you use to participate in the occupation (for example, work tools, furniture, cooking utensils, clothes, or other materials)
- The social and emotional support available to you in your home, school, work and community
the physical setup of your house, school, classroom, work place, community, or other environment.
Many occupational therapists use the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) which measures change in your ability to perform occupations over a period time. It measures how important the activity is to you and how satisfied you are with your performance in it.
Arthritis Management
There are more than 100 different types of arthritis. The word arthritis comes from the Greek word “arthron” meaning joint and the Latin word “itis” meaning inflammation. Aboriginal people have a two to three times higher rate of Rheumatoid Arthritis than anyone else in the world. Living a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise, stress management, eating well, being a non-smoker and getting a good night’s sleep has a positive impact on living with arthritis. Early diagnosis and treatment of arthritis can prevent joint deformity and loss of function.
Service Providers
The Arthritis Management Program is delivered by an Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care (ACPAC) therapist. The ACPAC program is a 10-month certificate-based program hosted by St. Michael’s Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, in collaboration with the University of Toronto.
The purpose of the ACPAC
program is to train and prepare experienced occupational therapists, physiotherapists and registered nurses to deliver arthritis care in an extended practice role in response to:
- A progressive decline in traditional arthritis care specialists resulting in increased wait times for patients
- The need for an enhanced inter-professional approach to care for greater efficiency in the management of patients with inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritis
Services Offered:
- Assessment
- Review of your current symptoms/ limitations
- Review of your medical history and current medication list
- Complete musculoskeletal assessment
- Determine if arthritis is inflammatory or non-inflammatory
We can provide support for arthritis management which may include:
- Recommend additional testing (e.g. blood work, x-rays)
- Assist with referring to and securing appointments with other healthcare providers, including specialists in arthritis ma nagement (e.g. rheumatologist, physiotherapist, and traditional healer)
- Provide education (1:1 and/or group setting) on specific management techniques (e.g. joint protection strategies, energy cons ervation, pain management, therapeutic exercise, modalities, splints and orthotics, and assistive devices)
- Assist with accessing available funding sources for pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treatment
- Assist specialists and primary care providers to monitor your arthritis using the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) whenever possible to eliminate long distance travel