OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY DIVISION

Occupational therapy is a client-centred health profession concerned with promoting health and well being through occupation. The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by working with people and communities to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement. (WFOT 2012).

Services 

1. Amputee Rehabilitation 

• Occupational Therapy provides opportunity to individuals who are recovering either upper or lower extremity amputation to achieve their highest level of independence in functioning through education, lifestyle and activities modification.

2. Cardiac Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy plays an important role in cardiac rehabilitation because it aims to increase function and reduce risk factors for further pathology and injury. We provide not only education to patients with cardiac disease to increase their safety, quality of life and health by evaluating and analyzing our patients' activities of daily living but also to assist them to gradually resume activities they previously enjoyed in a safe manner. 

3. Spinal Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy is concerned with helping clients who suffer from Spinal Cord Injuries to use their residual movement and strength to perform everyday tasks. Occupational Therapist will assess the patients' abilities in several areas and intervene accordingly.

4. Occupational Therapy in Pain Rehabilitation,  Oncology & Palliative Care

• Occupational Therapy services in pain management integrate the physical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual aspects of clients’ experiences for them to continue to participate in their life roles regardless of the stage of their pain or disease process.  Intervention approaches include education, functional goal setting and home program.

• Occupational Therapy approaches are holistic and client centred. We evaluate not on patients' activities of daily living but take into consideration treatment-related problems, such as pain, fatigue, and nausea when planning for our intervention in these group of patients.  Our aim is to support clients with cancer by minimizing the secondary symptoms related to cancer and its treatments. We teach our patients energy conservation techniques and prescribe assistive technology to simplify task, minimize physical effort and optimize performance.

5. Geriatric Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy in Geriatric Rehabilitation focuses on helping elderly people who are mostly aged above 65 years old to maintain independence in performing their activities of daily living that have become difficult or impossible to do because of age-related changes, disorders, or disabilities.

6. Burns Rehabilitation

• Manage patients suffering from burns related injury in performing their activities of daily living. In addition, we provide pressure garment and splints as well as educate on proper positioning and home programs to prevent the development of contracture secondary to burn injuries. We also evaluate patients' anxiety and depression level and manage accordingly as part of our hollistic approach.

7. Rheumatology Rehabilitation

• Manage patients with Osteoarthritis & Rheumatoid Arthritis in their activities of  daily living, educate them joint protection techniques and energy conservation techniques, home programs and aids & adaptations to reduce and improve their functional limitations.

8. Lymphoedema Rehabilitation

• The main aim of management is edema control and skin care. We provide lymphatic massage, pressure garments and home programs.  Our clients are mainly patients pre- & post breast surgery or mastectomy and those suffering from lymphoedema.

9. Work Rehabilitation

• Work Rehabilitation assesses the ability of the patient to return to work and we provide the necessary report. It is a structured program of graded work conditioning and hardening.

10. Pre Driving Rehabilitation

• Pre Driving Rehabilitation assessing the ability of a patient to return to drive by off-road assessment program.

11. Psychiatric Rehabilitation

• Occupational therapy is a key discipline in the field of psychiatric rehabilitation as it brings to the field a strong theoretical and knowledge base as well as unique procedures and practices. In UMMC, Occupational Therapy works in Acute Setting, Day Care, Sheltered Workshop, Job Placement and Supported Employment, Care Café and Psychiatric Adolescent and Child Unit.

12. Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy manages patients who suffered from acquired brain injury condition resulting from damage to the brain caused by strokes, tumours, anoxia, hypoxia, toxins, degenerative diseases, near drowning and or other conditions not necessarily caused by an external force to achieve their optimal functional level.

13. Neuromedical Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy provides therapeutic programs designed to improve patient function, reduce limitations and improve overall patient well being.

14. General Medical Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy manages patients who have a variety of medical conditions not confined to any sub-speciality to achieve their optimal functional level.

15. Paediatric Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy applies approaches and techniques to maximize a child’s engagement, achievement and independence in all activities, including those at school, play, leisure, and self care skills such as dressing and feeding. 

16. General Surgical Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy manages patients who have undergone surgery and deconditioned post general surgery due to prolonged immobilization enabling them to achieve their optimal independence level.

17. Division Joint Replacement, Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Surgery and General Orthopaedic

• Occupational Therapist in this area dealing with patients who have lower limb orthopaedic problems such as fractures, joint replacement, lengthening of the lower limb and general orthopaedic problems.

18. Hand and Upper Limb Rehabilitation

• Occupational Therapy in Hand and Upper Limb is a specializing clinical area that typically concerned with treating orthopedic-based upper-extremity conditions include fractures of the hand and arm, lacerations, surgical repairs of tendons and nerves, and conditions such as tendonitis, osteoarthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome by implementing comprehensive assessment and intervention programme. Intervention programme addresses the biomechanical issues and added an occupation-based and client-centered approach that emphasizes the performance of desired activities as the primary goal of therapy.