section_path: Epidemiology/Occupational therapy
section_name: Occupational therapy
paragraph_text: Occupational therapy
  
  Occupational therapy practitioners aim to improve and enable a client or group's participation in meaningful, everyday occupations. In this sense, occupation is defined as any activity that "occupies one's time". Examples of those activities include daily tasks (dressing, bathing, eating, house chores, driving, etc.), sleep and rest, education, work, play, leisure (hobbies), and social interactions. The OT profession offers a vast range of services for all stages of life in a myriad of practice settings, though the foundations of OT come from mental health. Community support for mental health through expert-moderated support groups can aid those who want to recover from mental illness or otherwise improve their emotional well-being.
  
  OT services focused on mental health can be provided to persons, groups, and populations across the lifespan and experiencing varying levels of mental health performance. For example, occupational therapy practitioners provide mental health services in school systems, military environments, hospitals, outpatient clinics, and inpatient mental health rehabilitation settings. Interventions or support can be provided directly through specific treatment interventions or indirectly by providing consultation to businesses, schools, or other larger groups to incorporate mental health strategies on a programmatic level. Even people who are mentally healthy can benefit from the health promotion and additional prevention strategies to reduce the impact of difficult situations.
  
  The interventions focus on positive functioning, sensory strategies, managing emotions, interpersonal relationships, sleep, community engagement, and other cognitive skills (i.e. visual-perceptual skills, attention, memory, arousal/energy management, etc.).