OT, your way.

Occupational Therapy (OT) is the art and science of enabling individuals to participate in meaningful activities or occupations by using evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning.

What do we mean by "occupation"? More than just work! In fact, most of what people do is considered an "occupation".  

For children and youth, occupations include:

• Playing on the playground

• Tying shoe laces

• Attending school

• Riding a bike

• Working an after school job

For senior adults, occupations include:

• Travelling

• Gardening

• Golfing

• Caring for grandchildren

We can help everyone … with everything! An OT can be found almost anywhere.

In a hospital or rehab setting, you'll find us: 

• Examining a client’s thinking and memory

• Preventing skin wounds by prescribing special cushions or mattresses

• Prescribing wheelchairs or equipment such as grab bars or bath seats for the bathroom

In the community, we can be found: 

• Providing home safety assessments for clients with dementia

• Running groups for clients with mental health issues

• Providing rehabilitation or exercises at a clinic for clients with a stroke or brain injuries

• Testing power or manual wheelchairs for clients with spinal cord injuries

• Providing vocational rehabilitation or workplace modifications for injured workers

• Teaching social skills to children with autism

• Teaching children with attention difficulties how to focus at school

• Prescribing bathroom equipment for patients with hip replacements or cerebral palsy.

Parkinson’s Disease

At Enable OT, our therapists have obtained advanced training in rehabilitation techniques related to Parkinson's Disease (PD), which allows them to provide the following supports to adults living with PD:

• Assessment of physical, social, cognitive, and emotional factors that affect an individual's functioning, including participation in daily activities

• Provision of equipment to aid with independence in mobility and daily tasks, such as meal management, leisure, productivity, and self-care

• Tips and tricks for organization

• Energy conservation and pacing

• Memory aids

• Home safety

• Anxiety and stress management

• Sleep hygiene

• Exercises to improve strength, balance, and range of motion (i.e., flexibility)

• Fine motor exercises to address handwriting and printing challenges

• Caregiver education and support

Our OTs use evidence-based interventions to improve function and enable participation in meaningful daily activities, such as those mentioned above. More specifically, treatment modalities used by our clinicians include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Dance

Did you know our Clinical Director, Gina Fernandez, was a professional dancer? She is therefore passionate about incorporating music and movement into her therapy sessions. Even more intriguing is the fact that recent research shows dance to be a significantly effective intervention for modifying the disease progression of Parkinson's Disease (Duncan et al., 2012). More specifically, studies have shown improvements in the areas of balance, mobility, and ADL independence among Parkinson's patients who participated in dance-based interventions (Aguiar et al., 2016; Foster et al., 2013, Hackney et al., 2009).

• Yoga & Mindfulness

Yoga has been shown to be an effective intervention for improving functional mobility, flexibility, strength, balance, and sleep among individuals living with Parkinson's Disease (Roland, 2013). Similarly, participation in mindfulness, often taught as a component of yoga practice, is associated with improved motor and non-motor Parkinson's symptoms, such as mood, coping skills, gait, and muscle rigidity (Nadeeka et al., 2016; Fitzpatrick et al., 2009).

• Boxing

Boxing has been shown to contribute to short and long-term improvements in the areas of balance, gait, and ADL independence (Combs et al., 2011). At Enable OT, we offer a combination of 1:1 and group boxing classes, which allow our clinicians to develop a treatment program that best meets the needs of each client.

• PWR! Exercise

PWR! is a Parkinson's specific exercise program that is based on the principle of neuroplasticity (i.e., the brain's ability to change). Research studies have shown that participation in the program is associated with reduced symptoms and improved physical and cognitive functioning. Our Clinical Director, Gina Fernandez, has completed intensive PWR! training, thereby allowing her to most effectively provide exercise-based treatment to individuals living with Parkinson’s Disease.

Your recovery, our help.