The Implications and Results of Occupational Therapy in Ft. Lauderdale

Patients with physical or mental conditions require special therapy, depending on the gravity of their situation. There are various companies which offer such services throughout Florida. The practice of occupational and physical therapy is centered around the patient and their recovery, and has as the main goal the fast recovery of the client – including teaching a skill or adapting the environment to the individual’s possibilities.Various treatments are implemented to develop, recover, or help maintain the daily living skills of an individual who is suffering from physical or mental disabilities. Depending on the severity of each case, specially trained therapists will look after each patient and will implement various teaching techniques and exercises to help that individual regain their strengths (be they mental of physical). Depending on the type of help a patient needs, therapy can come in one of two forms:

• Physical therapy
• Psychological therapy

Physical therapy in Ft. LauderdaleThis type of therapy involves working with the patient side by side and having them do special physical exercise’s that, in time and with perseverance, will help the patient recover from a physical injury. Physical therapy is also applied with the aim of helping a person strengthen their muscles, recover from surgery or regain mobility (for example, after a stroke or a car accident).Different from the exercises mentioned above, but still considered to be part of the physical therapy regimen, is speech therapy.  Speech therapy is used with patients who have partially or entirely lost their ability to speak after a stroke or some other kind of accident. These exercises are always adapted to the patient’s abilities and in time may result in the full recovery of the individual’s ability to speak.Psychological therapyThis type of therapy is aimed at helping an individual cope with a psychological condition. One of the most common uses for this therapy is for patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s. Every healthcare provider offering this type of therapy should be committed to helping not only the patient, but their family as well.This includes the ‘training’ of family members and helping them understand the situation and what their expectations should be. Psychological therapy extends beyond the individual himself to include the entire family and all the individual’s friends as an important part of treating each stage of the disease.An important element that should be provided by such therapists should be the relief of the daily stress of caregiving. If this issue is taken care of by someone from the outside of the family, it means that the family members will be able to better enjoy the time they spend with the patient. Occupational therapy in Ft. Lauderdale, or anywhere else for that matter, should not be seen as a job for those working in the field, but rather as a calling. Of course, special training is required, but therapists in these niches should always look beyond the mere status of ‘employee’.