Occupational Therapy Programs

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy enables people of all ages to participate in daily living tasks, which are called occupations. 

Occupational therapy focuses on the prevention of disabling conditions and rehabilitation of clients who have chronic or acute disease processes, mental health conditions, age-related health problems, and developmental delays.

Occupational therapy promotes health, well-being, and participation with the activities and roles that someone wants or needs to hold, accomplish, or complete in their daily life.

Meaningful activities can include anything that a person wants or needs to engage in, such as taking care of themselves and their family, gardening, working, volunteering, going to school, or golfing.

Practitioners
Occupational therapy practitioners work in a wide variety of settings which include rehabilitation centers, extended care facilities, primary care sites, schools, homes, outpatient facilities, clinics, hospitals, and community centers.

You might find OT practitioners working with:

• A child in a public school
• A stroke patient in the hospital
• A retired soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at a veterans' hospital
• An elderly resident in a nursing home
• An injured electrician trying to return to work
• A mother with developmental disabilities
• A homemaker with severe arthritis, requiring special equipment at home

Occupational therapy practitioners are occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants. An occupational therapy assistant (OTA) works under the supervision of an occupational therapist (OT).

Both and OTA and OT are skilled health care professionals who can look at an individual’s environmental, social, and cultural contexts, as well as physical and psychological strengths to determine a treatment plan that is meaningful to the client or patient.

MISSION AND VISION

The mission of the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program is to provide progressive and innovative educational experiences to develop exemplary Occupational Therapy Assistants. The vision of the program is to be a premier leader of inclusive and innovative Occupational Therapy Assistant education.  

Program Outcomes

A graduate with a baccalaureate degree in OTA will be able to:

• Demonstrate clinical competencies as a highly skilled entry-level generalist.
• Provide evidence-based and culturally sensitive services through occupation-based practice.
• Employ communication and collaborative skills to facilitate optimal occupational therapy outcomes.
• Present professional behavior and ethics that uphold the AOTA’s Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice, and Standards of Continuing Competence.
• Display the attributes for professional leadership and advocacy.
• Demonstrate synthesis of knowledge through successful completion of the national certification exam for the baccalaureate level Occupational Therapy Assistant.