Occupational therapy and physiotherapy both aim to improve a person's quality of life and function, but occupational therapy focuses on activities of daily living and participation in meaningful activities while physiotherapy focuses on physical impairments and mobility.
Physical therapy and occupational therapy are both types of rehabilitative care. The purpose of rehabilitative treatment after an injury, surgery, or illness is to improve your condition or prevent it from worsening.
Occupational Therapy is a form of healthcare that is used to help people solve the challenges and barriers that interfere with their ability to perform activities that are important to them. With a holistic approach to maximizing the quality of daily life for their patients, OTs work towards improving physical health and mental health.
Performing self-care activities like getting dressed, tending to personal hygiene, and getting around the house can be an important part of everyday life.
The ability to be a productive member to the community by joining in on community events, going to school or work can give us a sense of purpose.
Leisure activities like being social, playing sports, gardening, or creating art bring joy and meaning to our lives.
An Occupational Therapist, or OT, treats ill, injured, or disabled patients through the therapeutic use of everyday activities. The OT focuses on helping their patients develop, recover, improve, and maintain the skills needed for daily living and working. Occupational Therapists are healthcare providers who deliver occupational therapy services. Occupational Therapy is a regulated medical profession. To practice the OT profession legally in Canada, OTs must be registered with their provincial regulator.
An Occupational Therapist has a bachelor's degree specialized in recommending preventative and/or corrective action to help patients lead more satisfying and productive lives. They are professionals who follow the right career path to understand the medical and physical limitations of a disability or injury, as well as the psychosocial factors that affect the health and wellness of the whole person.
Occupational therapists work in a variety of settings including:
Institutions: Hospitals, intermediate and long-term care facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, mental health centers, recreation centers, schools, universities and colleges, research centers, correctional institutions
Home and Community: Private practices, clinics, patient's home, halfway houses, groups homes, vocational programs, community action groups, health boards, and workers compensation boards.
Industry and business: Corporations, rehabilitation companies, and insurance companies.
Government: All levels of government who advise in health promotion, disability prevention/management, accessibility, vocational/health planning, and international rehabilitation program development.
Occupational therapists work with the patient to set one or more specific and individualized goal. The goals will include qualifiers such as patient's ability, whether supervision or assistance is required, any adaptive equipment or environmental modification for daily living and timeline. Often an OT will focus on improving gross motor skills and fine motor skills. The goals can cross-over different objectives relating to mind and body functions; mobility and transfers, self-care, toileting, dressing, eating, housework, daily tasks, planning, risk-assessment, adapting to changes, sensory integration, community mobility, employment and education and recreation and leisure.
The Occupational Therapist will be working closely with a patient to assess the individual’s strengths and challenges to create a therapy plan. The exercise and activity program will focus on improving motor skills. Picking up things with tweezers to practice fine motor skills or an obstacle course to work on gross motor skills.
To help with motor planning, a therapy plan could include routines like making breakfast. These plans help patients practice the steps in starting and following a sequence similar to daily activities.
When is Occupational Therapy needed?
Occupational therapists treat people with these conditions or illness:
OT is a therapy to help improve motor skills, balance, and coordination. It helps adults and kids who struggle with tasks like writing or getting dressed. While adults with DCD may benefit from Occupational Therapy, it’s most effective with kids. Early intervention will give more effective results.
PT focuses on both injury recovery and injury prevention. They promote overall health, well-being and fitness including strength, cardiovascular fitness, body movement and flexibility/mobility. They help eliminate and decrease pain while allowing you to stay active. They are an integral part of the health care team.
Physiotherapy, or PT, is a scientific health care profession that requires a master's degree. They are involved in the rehabilitation process after pain, injury, dysfunction, or disease. They work with and balance multiple human body systems.
Physiotherapists are knowledgeable in human anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics. Orthopedic clinical Physiotherapists specialize in assessing and treating symptoms of pain, injury, disability, chronic conditions, illness, and movement dysfunction.
Physiotherapists work in a variety of settings including:
Institutions: Hospitals, intermediate and long-term care facilities, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, mental health centers, fitness centers, schools, universities and colleges, research centers, correctional institutions.
Home and Community: Private practices, clinics, patient's home, halfway houses, vocational programs, community action groups, health boards, and home health agencies.
Industry and business: Corporations, rehabilitation companies, and insurance companies.
Government: All levels of government who advise in health promotion, disability prevention/management, accessibility, vocational/health planning, and international rehabilitation program development.
Physiotherapists will fully engage with their patients to set treatment goals that will help them to fully engage in their lives and day-to-day tasks. Goals may include recovery and prevention, rehabilitation after a stroke, accident, injury, or surgery, control bowels or bladder, women's health (recover after giving birth), manage a chronic illness like diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis, adapting to a prosthetic limb or other assistive devices. A common focus is usually on increasing mobility and strength while reducing pain to return to normal levels of overall functioning.
A physical therapist treats people with these conditions or illness:
While physical therapists can treat most of these conditions, some are considered specialty areas. Physical therapy improves quality of life by restoring/increasing strength, mobility, and balance.
A physical therapist treats from a biomechanical perspective and will focus on helping you with mobility, and function. This is achieved through treatment on muscles, joints, ligaments and aligning bones by using a variety of exercises, stretches and other methods. Patient education is also a key factor in recovery. For example, physical therapists will work with a patient who’s had a joint replacement to help increase range of motion in the affected body part. This helps relieve pain and discomfort while improving ease of movement during and after the healing process.
An occupational therapist will focus on helping you perform daily tasks more easily. This therapy includes improving fine motor skills and gross motor skills. For example, a patient recovering from a stroke will receive help relearning how to do everyday tasks like dressing or brushing teeth. The Occupational Therapist will also help to optimize your home, work, or school environment with assistive devices like installing a grab-bar in the shower.
The main difference is that a PT will use techniques like manual therapy to treat a patient’s injury, while an OT will work with the patient to achieve independence by be able to accomplish specific tasks through practice.
While these two healthcare practitioners may differ, Occupational and Physical Therapists share similarities.
Their common goal is to improve function, quality of life and to provide education on maintaining well-being. Both provide hands-on care specific to their patient’s individual needs. They will both teach stretches and exercises with set goals to improve function and quality of life. Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists both treat many of the same conditions.
The choice between Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy will depend on your condition and your individual needs. There is some overlap in the tasks performed.
If you are struggling with a condition that interferes with your ability to move your body without pain, physical therapy could be the right choice for you. Through individualized exercises, stretches and treatment, they can help you reduce pain, improve your range of motion, and strength.
If you find that performing daily tasks, such as getting dressed or standard housework have become difficult, an Occupational Therapist may help improve the motor skills needed for these specific tasks.
It’s important to consult your doctor about any medical conditions and the type of therapy that’s right for you. They can discuss the benefits of each therapy, and which one will best meet your specific needs.
Feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions about Inertia Physio+ and how we can help you get back to living your best life.
