Cognitive Occupational Therapy
The field of Cognitive Occupational Therapy has emerged to aid individuals be able to function in day to day activities. For individuals who have suffered a traumatic brain injury, a cognitive approach is needed to assess a process of improvement in the cognitive functioning area.
Cognitive Occupational Therapy is an area of specialty within the occupational therapy field. Some areas of practice include schools, rehabilitation centers, mental health inpatient and community settings, and assisted living facilities just to name a few.
The occupational therapy process involves various steps necessary to help a person integrate himself into the everyday activities as much as possible with emphasis being on independence from others. Some suggests a 7 to 11 step process. The basic steps start out with a referral, initial assessment, needs, goals, ongoing assessment, outcomes, and a review.
A key component in the healing and improving process of a person is the step of ongoing assessment. In this area a cognitive occupational therapists play a substantial role as professionals as they impart knowledge to other professional involve in helping someone recover. In rehabilitation inpatient units and mental health units, occupational therapists are closely working assessing the daily cognitive functioning of patients to help them back on their feet as soon as possible. One important goal for them is to teach long lasting skills that they can take to their natural environment once they leave the hospital.
Cognitive occupational therapists must use a reliable assessment tool for ongoing assessment. In the journal of Archives of Medicine and Rehabilitation, Volume 83, I3, 03/02, it was concluded that the Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment , was slightly better when compared to the MMSE and the FIM in predicting functional status change after stroke rehabilitation.
LOTCA is a battery tool that provides information on the cognitive abilities of a brain injured person and establishes a basis for treatment and measuring outcomes. It consists of 20 subtests and it takes from 30 to 45 minutes to administer. Such skilled tool can be expensive. Other useful LOTCA assessments include the 2nd edition, and the G Geriatric edition.
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