Occupational Therapy and acquired brain damage

Abstract

Occupational therapy is the use of purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional outcomes that promote health, prevent injury or disability, and that develop, improve, sustain, or restore the highest possible level of independence of any individual who has an injury, illnes, or other disorders or condition. This article has been designed to serve as a foundation for the general understanding of occupational therapy intervention with acquired brain damage survivors. The ultimate goal of occupational therapy is to enable individuals to perform the tasks that are essential for performing their unique roles. An occupational therapist assesss underlying motor, cognitive, perceptual, and interpersonal skills as well as task performance and valued roles. Depending on a person´s current potential for recovery impairments, the occupational therapist, and others health profesionals, facilites task performance by improving relevant performance skills, developing and teaching compensatory strategies to overcome lost performance skills, or combining both of these strategies.