Reflection on Occupation-based Practice

One of the many elevator speeches I use to define my profession goes as follows,
occupational therapy (OT) is a branch of rehabilitation that focuses on individual and meaningful
occupations to achieve self-defined success. Prior to learning about and exploring the OT world,
I was a member of the pre-physical therapy club at my undergraduate university. The OT
profession is still a mystery to many, however continues to gain awareness. Unfortunately, it
does not surprise me that a pre-occupational therapy club does not exist at my undergraduate
university today. The idea of being able to collaborate with individuals on the things they like to
do, being occupations, seemed like an exciting and fun way to achieve success, and the
profession roped me in the minute I learned about it.
Occupations are the basis of the OT profession and it is necessary to encourage therapists
to be as occupation-based as possible, whenever possible. Throughout the OT program at Touro
University Nevada, many, if not all, of our courses emphasized the importance of completing
occupation-based interventions with our clients in order to be as client-centered as possible. In
my first level II fieldwork, it was evident how much buy-in into therapy increased when the
interventions focused on various tasks or occupations that the client expressed interest in. In the
beginning of my fieldwork, I often struggled with constantly being creative with interventions
and always switching things up. I distinctly remember one treatment session when I realized I
felt bored with the intervention and if I was bored the client was most definitely bored! I vowed
to myself to always introduce new treatment ideas with a client and if I do find myself becoming
stumped, I can seek advice from other therapists or look to evidence-based research articles for
new treatment ideas.
Over the course of the six semesters at Touro University Nevada, I was constantly
challenged as a student to be occupation-based and to avoid rote, meaningless activities.
Artifacts throughout the course of the program that I feel aided to my growth in this area include

completing a home-based assessment as well as obtaining two occupational profiles on two

clients from different level I fieldwork settings. At my first level II fieldwork, I had the
opportunity to complete multiple home assessments on clients to ensure a safe discharge home. I
feel that completing a home assessment prior to level II fieldwork prepared me as a student to do
so successfully. I was also able to educate my fieldwork educator on additional assessments that
may be utilized in this environment. In addition to home assessments, I had the opportunity of
gaining an occupational profile on a client, identifying problem statements, implementing longterm and short-term goals, and researching successful intervention ideas for the clients specific
diagnosis. I feel that this was great learning experience to enhance my intervention skills as an
OT student.
As a future occupational therapy graduate, I will continue to place emphasis on the
importance of identifying and focusing on each individual clients meaningful occupations to
center therapy around. I feel that this will not only build rapport with clients but also increase
adherence and buy-in into therapy.