Occupational therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that’s all about helping folks do the things in their everyday life (their occupations) that bring them meaning, but that they’re having trouble doing because of a disability, injury or illness. Often it’s activities like getting dressed without needing help, or learning how to navigate public transport so they can get to work… but at Birdability, it’s all about birding.
The Canadian Model of Occupational Performance states that there are three categories of occupations: productivity (usually work, school or volunteering), leisure (anything fun, like birding!) and self-care (eating, sleeping, brushing your teeth… and maybe birding too). It also states that every occupation occurs within four different environments: the physical environment, the cultural environment, the social environment and the institutional environment.
OTs can impact one or more of these environments to support participation; if you’re familiar with our work, you’ve probably seen this happening! (Those links in the previous sentence connect to some of the ways we’re addressing each environment in our work.) To empower participation, OTs can also teach the person or the people around them new skills, and we can provide adaptive equipment. OTs are client-centered, and are trained in health promotion and program development. All of these things inform what, and how, we work at Birdability.