Occupational Therapy Week 2023

Monday 6th November – Sunday 12th November 2023

Occupational Therapy Week is celebrated by Occupational Therapists, colleagues and patients throughout the first week of November each year. This is an important week for us as Occupational Therapists, enabling us to celebrate the unique contribution that Occupational Therapists make to the health and social care sector and the difference Occupational Therapy can make to the lives of individuals and families.  

Occupational Therapists work with people of all ages across a wide range of sectors including schools, hospitals, community settings and care homes. Occupational Therapy supports people experiencing short or long-term physical, mental health, environment or social difficulties. This may include difficulties with every-day tasks such as getting around the home, managing personal care tasks, cooking, as well as difficulties participating in hobbies, school and work.  

Through assessment and intervention, Occupational Therapists support people by helping them to reduce the impact of their condition on their ability to participate in activities and remain independent for as long as possible through making adjustments to routines and tasks.  

 

Did you know…

“An occupation is any activity that we need, want or like to do to live and look after our physical and mental health, and our emotional wellbeing. We do occupations from the moment we’re born, on our own or with others.  

Occupation isn’t just your job or activities of daily living. An occupation can be self-care, such as washing, eating or sleeping; productive, such as work, study, caring or domestic activities; and leisure, such as playing sports, hobbies or socialising.   

We’re all different and so are the occupations that matter to us. They vary depending on our environment, interests, values and skills. Our occupations also change throughout our lives.” - Royal College of Occupational Therapists.

 

 

Occupational Therapy Careers 

As a career, Occupational Therapy is a diverse profession offering the opportunity to work in a wide range of sectors and specialisms within clinical, rotational, managerial and research focused roles.   

Our Occupational Therapy Students shared with us why they chose Occupational Therapy as a career... 

“I have joined OT to support all people to live their lives as they want, and as independently as they want no matter the barrier.” – Ioan

 

 

 

 

“I decided to study Occupational Therapy as I wanted to pursue a profession in which I could be supporting and positively impacting people’s lives everyday and have the opportunity to work in a breadth of settings with likeminded people.” – Niamh

 

 

 

 

“I chose OT because I wanted to help people see the joy in their life.” – Lucy

 

 

 

 

 

“I have been working as an Occupational Therapy Support Worker (OTSW) for a number of years now and have been inspired by the client-centred approach of the profession and the positive outcomes and effectiveness that occupational therapy interventions can have. This has motivated me to start my own journey to become a qualified Occupational Therapist, to hopefully make a difference to people’s lives to support them to be able to do the things that are important to them. I believe that occupational therapy can empower individuals to overcome all kinds of challenges that can help them to participate in the activities of everyday life as independently as possible.” – Mike

 

“OT is a unique profession that supports people in engaging in their meaningful occupations.” – Dan

 

 

 

 

“I became an OT student because I wanted to make a positive impact on people’s lives, supporting them to re-engage in their meaningful occupations.” – Samantha

 

 

 

 

“I believe that everybody has the right to reach their full potential. I would like to be the person who supports people to make this happen. This is why I chose to become an Occupational Therapist.” – Szilivia

 

 

 

 

“I chose OT because I loved the idea of helping people engage in occupations that make their life worth living.” – Catherine

 

 

 

 

More information relating to Occupational Therapy can be found online on the Royal College of Occupational Therapists website or through chatting with your local Occupational Therapy team.