What is Occupational Therapy and What Can it Do For Me?!?

Progressive Rehab Associates is the employer of the inpatient – occupational therapy staff, at Mercy hospital, in Iowa City.

The therapists are a dynamic group of individuals that get to work with a variety of patients. We, as therapists, get to lead groups on our acute inpatient mental health unit twice a day, with a focus on practicing healthy coping strategies. We get to work individually with patients throughout the entire acute hospital. We complete evaluations, treatment sessions, and discharge plans for patients – our ultimate goal is to: identify solutions to the challenges of everyday life. We focus on: what is most important to our patients in their everyday life, such as: being able to write a letter to a loved one, feed themselves, get dressed, cook or bake, be in charge of their medications, stay in their own home, drive, increase their vision to allow them to read, be able to engage in leisure activities with friends, etc…

We then help the patient learn, practice, adapt, modify, or change how they are doing the task so they can remain as independent as possible. We also help the physicians determine if a patient is safe to live on their own, or where the most appropriate living situation might be.  It is important for people to get to be as independent as possible, for as long as possible, with the activities that matter to them the most, and this is what we get to focus on during our treatment sessions on a daily basis. – Jennifer Stotlar, MOT, OTR/L, Lead Therapist

“Just because someone is disabled doesn’t mean they can’t do something, it’s just that it has to be done differently.” Holly A. Cohen