“Occupational Therapy is a health care profession based on the knowledge that purposeful activity can promote health and well-being in all aspects of daily life. The aims are to promote, develop, restore and maintain abilities needed to cope with daily activities to prevent dysfunction. Programs are designed to facilitate maximum use of function to meet demands of the person’s working, social, personal and domestic environment. The essential feature of occupational therapy is the active involvement of the person in the therapeutic process. Occupational therapists receive education in social, psychological, biological and medical sciences, professional skills and methods. Fieldwork studies form an integral part of the course.” (WFOT Pamphlet Internet www.wfot.org 2009 March 09)
Occupational therapists work with all age groups and in a wide range of physical and psychosocial areas.
Theory
The course unit “occupational therapy: theory” is organised during the first semester of standard path 1. It contains basic information for acquiring knowledge and insight with respect to the profession, the different target groups and further vocational course units.
Information about the different target groups is elaborated later on in the study programme (standard path 2 and standard path 3) in four other course units. The student learns more about the models of occupational therapy.
Applied therapy
The course unit applied occupational therapy is lectured in standard path 1 so that the basic information given in the theoretical classes can be integrated immediately in practical situations. In standard path 2 and 3 students learn more about pathologies and the possible activity limitations and or participation restrictions of their future clients.
Students acquire competences in order to support and enable clients with several types of problems in their daily life. Theoretical and practical skills are going together through the use of cases.
Focus
In standard path 3 students can make a choice out of different topics. This is to give the student the opportunity to focus on their own interests.
During the 3 years of study, students will do 1000 hours of internship. In standards path 1 and 2 they will have the opportunity to explore the 4 different target groups: physical revalidation, mental health, elderly and developmental problems.
In standard path 3 students get the opportunity to choose two different target groups in order to focus on their interests.”