Job Overview Transcript

 

Occupational therapy assistants are a key part of the diverse area of occupational therapy, a field centered on helping people perform their “occupations,” or daily activities. As an occupational therapy assistant, or OTA, you would work with occupational therapists to design and provide interventions for your clients.

People are at the heart of occupational therapy. The profession helps individuals who need extra support in order to fully participate in life. This includes a wide range of people, from young to middle-aged to elderly, with a variety of conditions, from one-time work-related injuries to ongoing mental health challenges to the deteriorating effects of aging. By guiding patients through specially designed activities, OTAs help clients develop, maintain, or regain their health and ability to function, adapting activities and working to improve the underlying cause of their impairment.

As an OTA, you could work in a variety of settings. Many OTAs work in skilled nursing facilities, but there are also opportunities in hospitals, rehab facilities, outpatient clinics, schools, work-sites, home-health, and community-based settings. Occupational therapy is based around people, so the locations are as varied as your clientele.

This is a very active career. You need to be prepared for physical work, like standing, walking, bending, or lifting. You should also have good motor control: you’ll be using tools and controls with your hands and need to be able to demonstrate these techniques to your clients.

There are certain key skills you must possess if you want to be a good OTA. The field requires a strong grasp of physical science concepts, especially anatomy and physiology, and behavioral science concepts, such as psychology and sociology. Equally important is the emphasis on creativity in designing and modifying activities for your clients. It is this unique combination of talents that raises an OTA from good to exceptional.

In addition, you must be perceptive and detail-oriented, constantly aware of your clients’ actions and feelings. You’ll need to have the people skills to communicate politely and professionally with a wide variety of clients of any age, diversity, or condition. Each patient is unique, so you will constantly be thinking on your feet to modify tasks for individual clients. You should have the communication skills to listen, to be persuasive and to write up reports. And, above all, you must be oriented toward serving others.

If you feel that being an occupational therapy assistant is a good fit for you, follow the links at the side to continue the orientation.