Digesting the Domains of Occupational Therapy

Outside of gross anatomy, we are learning about leadership and, specifically, how to think like occupational therapists. We are learning how to use the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) to guide our thought process to assess and treat clients. As practicing practitioners, we will look at individuals with a Top- Down approach, meaning we will look at them by their roles, goals, and occupations before their disabilities or restrictions. Beginning with an initial interview, we will converse with the client about their “client factors”, which include their values, beliefs, and spirituality, as well as their body functions and structures. By knowing this information, you allow the client to unknowingly guide their plan for treatment. We do this because there is substantial evidence supporting occupation- based functional activity. The client’s are more intrinsically motivated to engage in the activities that they said are important and worthwhile to them. Along with client factors, we will take note of the client’s performance skills and patterns, which assess their occupational performance abilities and tendencies. We should consider all of this information about a client in relation to their environment and context and how that influences occupational performance. Two people can have similar diagnoses, physically, but value different things based on their cultures or maybe the stage of life are in, creating different environments and contexts. Despite having the same diagnoses, their interventions will look different because they are client- specific and context- specific. I am eager to learn more about the second component of the OTPF that outlines this intervention building process. I love that we, as an occupational therapy community, have the OTPF as a guide, but are not limited to one way of doing things!