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Children & Youth
Occupational therapists work with infants, toddlers, children, and youth and their families in a variety of settings including schools, clinics, and homes. Occupational therapists assist children and their caregivers to build skills that enable them to participate in meaningful occupations. Occupational therapists also address the psychosocial needs of children and youth to enable them to participate in meaningful life events. These occupations may include: normal growth and development, feeding, play, social skills, and education.

Occupational therapy with Children and Youth may take a variety of forms:


 * Promoting a wellness program in schools to prevent childhood obesity
 * Facilitating hand writing development in school-aged children
 * Promoting functional skills for living in children with developmental disabilities
 * Providing individualized treatment for sensory processing difficulties
 * Addressing psychosocial needs of a child and teaching effective coping strategies

Health & Wellness
The practice area of Health and Wellness is emerging steadily due to the increasing need for wellness-related services in occupational therapy. A connection between wellness and physical health, as well as mental health, has been found; consequently, helping to improve the physical and mental health of clients can lead to a general increase in wellness.

As a practice area, health and wellness can include a focus on the following:


 * Prevention of disease and injury
 * Prevention of secondary conditions
 * Promotion of the well-being of those with chronic illnesses
 * Reduction of health care disparities
 * Enhancement of factors that impact quality of life
 * Promotion of healthy living practices, social participation, and occupational justice

Mental Health
According to the World Health Association, mental illness is one of the fastest growing forms of disability. There is a focus on prevention and treatment of mental illness in populations including children, youth, the aging, and those with severe and persistent mental health issues. Occupational therapists provide mental health services in a variety of settings including hospitals, day programs, and long-term-care facilities.

Occupational therapists help individuals with mental illness acquire the skills to care for themselves or others including the following:


 * schedule maintenance
 * routine building
 * coping skills
 * medication management
 * employment
 * education
 * community access and participation
 * social skills development
 * leisure pursuits
 * money management
 * childcare

Productive Aging
Occupational therapists work with older adults to maintain independence, participate in meaningful activities, and live fulfilling lives. Some examples of areas that occupational therapists address with older adults are driving, continuing to live at home, low vision, and dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). When addressing driving, driver evaluations are administered to determine if drivers are safe behind the wheel. To enable independence of older adults at home, occupational therapists perform fall screens and evaluate older adults functioning in their homes and recommend specific home modifications. When addressing low vision, occupational therapists modify tasks and the environment. While working with individuals with AD, occupational therapists focus on maintaining quality of life, ensure safety, promote independence, and utilize retained abilities.

Rehabilitation
Occupational therapists address the needs of rehabilitation, disability, and participation. Occupational therapists provide treatment for adults with disabilities in a variety of settings including hospitals (acute rehabilitation, in-patient rehabilitation, and out-patient rehabilitation), home health, skilled nursing facilities, and day rehabilitation programs. When planning treatment, occupational therapists address the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and environmental needs involved in adult populations across a variety of settings.

Occupational therapy with adult rehabilitation, disability, and participation may take a variety of forms:


 * Working with adults with autism at day rehabilitation programs to promote successful relationships and involvement in the community
 * Increasing the quality of life for a cancer survivor or individual with cancer by engaging them in occupations that are meaningful, providing therapy for lymphedema management, implementing anxiety and stress reduction methods, and fatigue management
 * Training individuals with hand amputations how to put on and take off a myoelectrically controlled limb as well as training for functional use of the limb
 * Using and implementing new technology such as speech to text software and Nintendo Wii video games
 * Communicating via telehealth methods as a service delivery model for clients who live in rural areas
 * Providing services for those in the armed forces such as cognitive treatment for traumatic brain injury, training and education towards the use of prosthetic devices for amputations, and treatment for psychological distress as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder

Work & Industry
Occupational therapists may also work with clients who have had an injury and are trying to get back to work. Testing may be completed to simulate work tasks in order to determine best matches for work, accommodations needed at work, or the level of disability. Work conditioning and hardening are approaches used to restore performance skills needed on the job that may have changed due to an illness or injury. Occupational therapists can also prevent work related injuries through ergonomics and on site work evaluations.

Emerging Practice Areas
As society changes, individuals' occupational needs change as well. In order to ensure occupational therapy stays modern, the American Occupational Therapy Association develops a list of emerging practice areas in which occupational therapists may play a role. The following are the most current emerging practice areas. To learn more about these areas, please visit http://www.aota.org/Practitioners/PracticeAreas/EmergingAreas.aspx.

Children & Youth
 * A Broader Scope in Schools
 * Autism
 * Bullying
 * Childhood Obesity
 * Driving for Teens With Disabilities
 * Transitions for Older Youths

Education
 * Distance Learning
 * Re-entry to the Profession

Health & Wellness
 * Chronic Disease Management
 * Obesity
 * Prevention

Mental Health
 * Depression
 * Recovery and Peer Support Model
 * Sensory Approaches to Mental Health
 * Veterans’ and Wounded Warriors’ Mental Health

Productive Aging
 * Community Mobility and Older Drivers
 * Aging in Place and Home Modifications
 * Low Vision
 * Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Rehabilitation
 * Autism in Adults
 * Cancer Care and Oncology
 * Hand Transplants and Bionic Limbs
 * New Technology for Rehab
 * Telehealth
 * Veteran and Wounded Warrior Care

Work and Industry
 * Aging Workforce
 * New Technology at Work