Don’t let the title fool you: you don’t need an occupation to benefit from occupational therapy! Just ask any of our retired senior clients who receive OT services to enhance their ability to perform daily tasks of living, and who are experiencing a higher quality of life as a result. Here are just a few of the ways occupational therapy can help your senior loved ones:
- Home Modifications: Aging at home often requires adaptations to ensure the home environment is safe and accessible. Occupational therapists can help provide recommendations about home safety equipment that could benefit the senior, and offer suggestions on easier and safer ways to handle everyday tasks such as ambulation, cooking, personal care, and more.
- Pain Management: Through occupational therapy services, older adults can learn techniques to minimize pain while remaining as active as possible, building up stamina and strength and utilizing a variety of coping strategies. Occupational therapists will also assess a senior’s level of pain on an ongoing basis and adapt activities accordingly.
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s Assistance: Those with dementia can receive training on activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing, participate in memory-enhancing activities, engage in exercise programs and other activities of interest, experience reduced stress, and much more through occupational therapy. Occupational therapists can also recommend technological and other assistive devices to help seniors maintain as much independence as possible throughout the progression of the disease.
- Physical Adaptations: For a variety of physical limitations, such as reduced vision, amputations, arthritis, limited range of movement, and much more, occupational therapists can recommend adaptive equipment to improve quality of life.
Occupational therapy is invaluable to older adults upon admission and prior to discharge after a hospital stay or as recommended by the senior’s doctor, and all therapy services will begin with a plan of care that outlines individual goals and recommendations.
In additional, occupational therapists can help family caregivers provide better care for their senior loved ones, through training on proper techniques and hands-on care advice.
Nightingale Homecare of Phoenix is pleased to provide occupational therapy services for seniors right in the comfort of home, along with a full range of in-home care services: skilled nursing care and doctor-ordered medical care, companion and personal care, and a variety of specialized care services, such as dementia care, fall prevention, chronic disease management, and more.
To learn more about how we can help a senior loved one thrive at home with our Phoenix senior home care in the nearby areas, contact us at 602-504-1555.
