Lotca

After all of the trauma and emergency care needed to treat a patient with a brain injury, the real work begins. Brain injuries can vary from brain trauma where the brain has been physically injured by force or brain tumors to cerebrovascular accidents more commonly known as strokes. Organic mental illness such as schizophrenia can also be considered a brain injury. As devastating as these injuries can be to the patient and their loved ones, progress and healing does occur and even the slightest gains should be acknowledged if not celebrated.

The Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment is a series of tests that evaluate abilities in four areas: orientation, visual and spatial perception, visual motor organization and thinking operations. These areas of assessment break down as follows: Orientation refers to time and place; visual perception is recognition of objects and shapes; spatial perception is to know where their body lies in space; thinking organization evaluates skills with emphasis on categorization and object classification; and visual motor organization refers to reconstructive skills. An Occupational Therapist uses these very specific testing protocols to follow progress in these important life skills.

The LOTCA can assess the beginning abilities of the patient and then monitor progress through re-evaluation using the same standardized tests and sub-tests. These sub-tests take approximately 45 minutes to complete and can be repeated throughout the patients recovery. Every patient is unique. A LOTCA may show a patient as having higher abilities in one area while having greater challenges in another. All of the data available to assess a patient’s ability is needed to map out their recovery plan and therapeutic strategies.

Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment test batteries are available online for the Best Prices at Amazon. There are LOTCA batteries for general brain injury assessment and also specific Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment batteries for geriatric patients. Each provides assessments for the essential four evaluations with the LOTCA-G having specialized ongoing evaluation tools with the needs of the elderly brain injury patient in mind. These items are packaged in easy to carry totes for home visits and room visits in a hospital or rehabilitation center setting.

Great testing tools are the foundation of an Occupational Therapist’s practice. When progress is supported with data, a therapist can customize their patient’s treatment plan to give them back some independence and vitality.