Occupational therapy is a client centered profession that prevents disability and promotes, maintains or restores health and function through the use of purposeful activity. Deficits in the occupational performance areas of self-care, productivity and leisure are addressed using these activities. These activities must be of interest to the client. The basic functional skills used to complete the activity can address physical and/or emotional impairments. Furthermore the skills acquired by performing the activity can be transferred to other situations outside the activity itself. The inherent qualities of an activity can also be applied to a variety of clients with different impairments. Adaptations can be made to an activity to accommodate the clientís needs in order to achieve maximal therapeutic benefit.
We were given three different case studies and identified one activity that could be therapeutically adapted and applied to each client. An introduction and a brief description of each client follows: Our first client, Jane, is a 43-year-old female DATS bus driver who was involved in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) that left her with extension strain of the cervical spine. Our next client, Toby, is a 7-year-old boy who is a victim of child abuse. He suffers from physical and emotional trauma. Toby's major areas of concern to be addressed in therapy are his decreased arm and hand function. Finally, our last client, Betty, is a 32 year old woman suffering from major depression and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.
The activity we chose to apply and adapt to each client is drawing/coloring. Drawing and coloring is a form of art in which an individual manipulates various utensils to create a picture. The materials used for this type of activity are a chair, a drawing table or a flat surface, paper and drawing utensils such as pencils, pens, felt pens, pencil crayons, crayons, erasers, and drawing stencils.
ACTIVITY ANALYSISThe steps involved in this activity include:
1. Being positioned comfortably before a drawing table in an upright position with the working materials laid out.
2. Thinking, imagining and deciding what image to draw (therapeutically with the guidance of the occupational therapist.
3. Choosing utensil(s) to draw with.
4. Grasping the utensil.
5. Placing the utensil on paper.
6. Manipulating the utensil to create a picture or image.
An occupational therapist could use this activity with clients for therapeutic benefits because:
Used as a therapeutic medium, drawing/coloring can be used to communicate in a positive, healthy, and constructive manner. Furthermore, the flexion and extension motion used to create a drawing can be used to increase the range of motion in the upper extremities, thereby enhancing functional independence. This activity can also be used as a leisure outlet.