Occupational Therapy Advances Lifestyle Improvements
If an aging loved one in your life is dealing with a long-term illness, or is trying to recover from a surgery or another ailment, they could benefit from occupational therapy. This type of therapy can be done in the comfort of their own home so they don’t have to go anywhere and can work on completing the tasks that they are used to doing in their living space. If you want your loved one to have a high quality of life, here are some things that occupational therapy can do for them.
Give Personalized Goals
The occupational therapists that visit your loved one aren’t going to look at a chart, see their ailment, and give them a cut and dried, standard plan of care. Rather, they take time to get to know your loved one, what they’ve been through, what they are struggling with, and what goals they want to achieve through therapy. With all of those elements in place, a personalized treatment plan is worked out between everyone involved with goals that make sense and are obtainable for your loved one.
Improved Daily Activities
It’s very hard for anyone to see a loss in the things they can do, especially when there are things they need and want to do daily, but can no longer do anymore. When your senior loved one starts occupational therapy, there may be certain things they can’t do for themselves. As they move along in their therapy, they will start to improve in their performance of those things they have to do every day. This will give them a sense of accomplishment, independence, and freedom, all of which leads to higher comfort and a higher quality of life.
Adaptive Recommendations
There may be some things your loved one will never be able to do, but the occupational therapist that visits their home will be able to make certain recommendations to them and adjustments to their home so that everyone involved can adapt. Perhaps your loved one needs a wheelchair. Putting cooking items down low and moving rugs out of the way can help them access things and get around easily.
Guide Family Members
Occupational therapy can also help family members and those who help to care for your loved one. They can learn tips and tricks to help the senior individual work with the new tools they are getting each time they have therapy. They don’t have to work on things just when the therapist is there, they will see more improvement if they take the actions they learned and carry them out with others as well.
Starting Occupational Therapy
If you’re wondering if your loved one could benefit from in-home occupational therapy, it doesn’t hurt to find out more about it. The professionals at Agility Health are willing to listen to your loved one’s situation and offer recommendations as to whether or not in-home occupational therapy would be a good fit for them. Plans are always customized and can be adjusted as time goes by to suit the progression, any setbacks that might occur, and other situations that may arise.
