Occupational therapists and occupational therapy
assistants provide valuable assessment, training and
support to help older adults remain as independent as
possible and injury-free. Safe and full participation in
activities and control over one's ability to remain within
the home and community are priorities of older adults.
Occupational therapists are particularly skilled in
assessing and managing personal and environmental risk
factors in all activities for older adults. Practitioners offer
a breadth of knowledge, skills, and recommendations that
have long been valued by those who have recovered from
injury or illness. Linking clients' goals and priorities with
modifications and adaptations that support their ability to
participate in meaningful activities are hallmarks of
occupational therapy. Additionally, occupational therapy
practitioners play a critical role in training clients,
families, and other interdisciplinary team members
regarding the multiple circumstances that can affect
function and create personal and environmental risk, such
as falls.
Occupational therapists and occupational
therapy assistants work with the client and when
relevant, with caregivers, to scan the home environment
for hazards and assess the individual for limitations that
contribute to falls. Examples of potential hazards are
stairs in need of repair, lack of hand rails and grab bars,
inadequate lighting, and rugs that are not affixed to floors.
Individual limitations include weakness, low vision, and
perceptual disorders.
Occupational therapy practitioners provide
direct consultation to older adults, as well as to
community centers, nursing homes, and assistive living
environments. Identification of environmental factors that
contribute to falls and implementation of the therapist's
recommendations to remove those elements can improve
the health and safety of older adults and reduce health
care costs.
Fear of falling can be both a risk factor for falls
and a consequence of falling. Occupational therapy
practitioners assist older adults to assess whether their fear
is based on reality, whereby specific precautionary
measures, environmental modifications, and adaptive
equipment may be recommended. Sometimes, fear of
falling may be based on lack of confidence and other
psychological and social factors. In these situations,
occupational therapy practitioners assist older adults to
recognize and overcome their fears and problem-solve
about how to keep from falling while staying active. Fear
of falling can lead to self-limitation in performing
activities and tasks that people need to do to remain as
independent as possible. This can bring about a cycle
where weakness and decreased stamina develop as
individuals restrict their participation in activities, leading
to further restriction of their engagement in normal daily
life. The end result is increased risk for falls.
Occupational therapy practitioners assist in breaking
the inactivity cycle and sedentary lifestyle that
increase fall risks. Staying active and safe are goals that
older adults want for themselves: occupational therapists
specialize in empowering older adults to do just that.
Preventing falls and alleviating the fear of falling are costeffective
interventions that promote the safety and wellbeing
of older adults. Many payers, including Medicare,
will pay for these services as part of a covered
occupational therapy benefit.
The profession of occupational therapy focuses on
a person's ability to participate in desired daily life
activities or "occupations." Aging can affect the ability to
manage as we continue to live in familiar surroundings
or transition to new ones. As people age, occupational
therapy practitioners use their expertise to help them to
prepare for and perform important activities and to
fulfill their roles as community
dwellers, family members or
friends, workers, leisure devotees,
or volunteers.
