Services
- In clinic Occupational Therapy
- Homecare and assistive services (assessments and evaluations for home care services)
- Mobile services are offered to patients who require full home care assessments
- Virtual and Online Services
- Workers Compensation/WSIB Assessments (Personal Care Needs Assessments/ PCNA)
- Motor Vehicle Accident/MVA Assessments (Form 1 Assessments)
Goals Of Occupational Therapists
An occupational therapist will try to find out why a client cannot do what they would like or need to do. An OT may check:
- Your physical abilities like strength, balance and coordination
- Your mental abilities like memory, coping strategies, organizational skills
- What materials or devices you use to participate in activities like furniture, utensils, tools or clothes
- What social and emotional support is available to you at home, school, work or in the community, and
- The physical setup of your house, classroom, workplace or other environment
Depending on what the problem is, the occupational therapist can help you solve it by:
1. Helping you overcome your disability. OTs do this by:
- educating or instructing you on how to do things with the abilities you have – e.g. getting around your community in a wheelchair
- suggesting activities that will help you improve or maintain the abilities you have – e.g. improving your coping strategies
2. Adapting the materials you use. OTs do this by changing the things you use:
- around the house – e.g. a special key holder to make turning keys easier
- in sports or leisure activities – e.g. a playing cards holder
- at work or school – e.g. special tools that help prevent injury to hands and back
- to take care of yourself – e.g. special bath or toilet seats
- to get from place to place – e.g. car modifications such as one-handed steering wheels
3. Recommending changes to the environments where you do your everyday activities. OTs do this by recommending that you:
- change the physical layout of your workplace, home or school – e.g. lowering/raising desk tops, countertops or cupboards
- find out about the supports in your community – e.g. specialized public transportation
- work with the people in your community – e.g. providing education about a disability to the teacher or employer
- work with the government to encourage health living – e.g. request funding for special equipment
Through client-centred care, occupational therapists not only help overcome barriers but help prevent:
- unnecessary hospital stays and readmissions
- premature moves to a nursing home
- work injuries due to poor work station positioning and other organizational strains
- school dropouts due to poor attention spans or reading and writing difficulties
- unemployment among people with a developmental disability or a mental illness
How are occupational therapy services paid for?
- Workers compensation claims may involve a referral to occupational therapy services if you have a work-related illness or injury.
- If you have an illness or injury from a motor vehicle accident, occupational therapy services may be covered under your auto insurance plan.
- Long term disability insurance programs may cover occupational therapy services.
- If you are a Canadian armed forces veteran, the Department of Veteran Affairs may cover occupational therapy services.
- Some extended healthcare plans will cover Occupational Therapy Services.