April is National Occupational Therapy month!
And as we celebrate, we don’t only promote Occupational Therapy and recognize the efforts of our OTs and COTAs, but more importantly, we spread the word on the value of occupational therapy services.
This year’s theme is “Empowering Independence” – just perfectly describes how an Occupational Therapy impacts the lives of many.
However, not everyone realizes that occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants are part of an important profession that helps people in pediatrics, geriatrics, and ages in between participate in the things they need and wants to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupation). Their holistic and customized approach to evaluations, interventions, and outcomes help a child with disabilities participate in school and social situations. They assist a person recovering from injuries to regain skills and aid an older adult to stay as independent as possible. They also offer the specialized support and services to people of all ages and in all circumstances that only occupational therapy can provide.
If you are an OT or COTA and reading this, have you ever been asked: “what do you do in life?” And that when you answered your profession, you see a confused face with “wha–what’s that? Could you please tell me more about that?” as their response?
Being an OT or a COTA is indeed an admirable profession! So let’s take this moment to spread the word about how great Occupational Therapy is!
Well, we all have our own artistic way to do that for sure! The easiest way is with the help of the internet, technology, and a little swipe of our fingers, and ta-dah you just reach to thousands of people, or if you’re lucky enough with engaging content, you will reach to millions around the world. You may consider AOTA’s top ten ways to promote Occupational Therapy online. Doing these suggested ways won’t take so much of your time.
- Share information about occupational therapy on social media sites (5 minutes)
- Use the hashtag #OTMonth (5-10 minutes)
- Answer questions on Q&A sites such as Quora (15 minutes)
- Contact your legislators on Facebook (15 minutes)
- Start pinning on Pinterest (20 minutes)
- Take and share pictures of OT in action (time commitment varies)
- Write a blog post about OT (30 minutes)
- Relate a story about OT on Storify (45 minutes)
- Record a podcast (1 hour)
- Create a video (A couple of hours)
You can access the full article here: https://www.aota.org/Conference-Events/OTMonth/TopTenSocial.aspx
For the majority of occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants bringing hope to everyday lives of their clients is not just a profession but a lifetime passion with unwavering compassion! Like Stephanie Lancaster, MS, OTR/L, ATP, CAPS, she has been in practice since 1991, and up to this day, she’s still proud and happy to be an OT. To celebrate National OT Month, she shared in a blog her 10 Reasons why she still loves being an Occupational Therapist. You can read her inspiring story here:
Celebrating OT Month 2018: 10 Reasons I Still Love Being an Occupational Therapist
Do you already have plans on how you will celebrate OT month? You can visit these ten ideas from AOTA to get some inspiration; they are easy, affordable, and effective!
Ten Things You Can Do To Celebrate Occupational Therapy Month
We are not affiliated with bloggers and organizations mentioned in this article. But we would love to celebrate National Occupational Therapy month by spreading the word and sharing this blog entry with you! Because like you, we believe in the wonders of Occupational Therapy, we admire the hard work of our OT’s and COTA’s. And through all the best things they do, we thought that they are more than worthy of recognition.
