Difference between Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT): Irvin: Resilience OT
How is occupational therapy different than physical therapy? Physical therapy, as most people know, is dealing with the biomechanics, strength, endurance, flexibility of people's bodies to help them move forward and accomplish their physical needs. Occupational therapy is a therapy that developed alongside physical therapy, but it has its own origins and has always been rooted
Irvin Eisenberg (00:31.38)
in meaningful activity. occupation is meaningful activity. And the two overlap quite a bit. Conventionally speaking, occupational therapists in most outpatient rehab therapy clinics focus from the fingertip to the elbow. So you have hand therapists are typically occupational therapists. The shoulder can actually be kind of a no man's land in between.
Irvin Eisenberg (01:00.286)
PT and OT. The reason for this is primarily making sure there isn't duplication of services within a clinic that has both under a bigger context. But there's nothing in the occupational therapy scope of practice that says that occupational therapists can't be working with feet and knees and hips and low back pain and necks. So as an occupational therapist who has a background in manual therapy and postural support,
Irvin Eisenberg (01:28.786)
I take meaningful activity and functionality to include the whole body. So I work wherever the problem is for the client that is getting in the way of their meaningful activity. Range of motion for its own sake isn't of interest to me. Strength for its own sake isn't of interest to me. What is of interest to me as an occupational therapist is how do we get you functioning the way you want to function or need to function?
Irvin Eisenberg (01:56.876)
to carry out your daily activities. Sometimes this means helping somebody gain some additional flexibility so they can teach a yoga class. Sometimes this means helping someone with their back pain so they can do their yard work. And that is the focus of occupational therapy is always comes back to what is meaningful activity for you and how do we get you there. It doesn't mean the physical therapists don't do that, but their goal
Irvin Eisenberg (02:26.318)
Irvin Eisenberg (02:27.039)
is primarily a biomechanical approach of being able to do the act, being able to have a full range of motion and strength. Whereas as an occupational therapist, I might have a more adaptive approach as needed. How do we get around physical restraints that we might have, or how do we work through them and develop your range of motion similar to physical therapists?