Occupational Therapy Services
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What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?
Occupational Therapy is a health profession which helps people gain or regain the skills which are important for an individual's safety, function and quality of life. Occupational therapists use functional activity in assessing and treating people to maximise their ability to perform tasks that are important to them and their lifestyle.
Occupational Therapists work with people (and their family, carers, and other health professionals) with a variety of conditions, which can affect a person's ability to move, think, communicate, see and perceive, as well as their mood and personality. These limitations can make it difficult for a person to perform the activities required in their roles at home, school/work, and leisure, for example:
- Dressing,
- Personal hygiene,
- Eating,
- Cooking,
- Shopping,
- Driving,
- Writing,
- Play.
Occupational Therapists working within the Townsville District Health Service provide a variety of services including:
- Prescribing assistive equipment (e.g. over toilet frames, bath-boards, shower chairs and wheelchairs);
- Recommendations regarding home modifications (e.g. grab-rails);
- Splinting for hands and other body parts to maintain or improve health or function (e.g. to prevent contracture);
- Prescribing compression garments (e.g. for burns, lymphoedema and vascular insufficiency).
- Providing therapy programs for children;
- Upper limb retraining post neurological conditions;
- Assistance and retraining with functional tasks such as showering, dressing and cooking;
- Strategies to assist with thinking skills;
- Providing education and support regarding activity with conditions such as heart attacks, chronic pain and mental illness;
- Providing advice about positioning and equipment to manage pressure ulcers;
- Driving assessments;
- Self-management for living with a chronic disease.
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