Occupational therapy

Occupational therapy may improve confidence and ability to stay active. Therapists can provide information about adaptive equipment for the home, specialized clothing, and personal training that can maximize a patient s independence, safety, and ADLs. They can help improve handwriting and train patients to use special computer programs that enhance communication. 

Within four months of his marriage and two months of his admission into the National Academy, Carothers collapsed. Instead of returning to Dr. Hohman in Baltimore, Carothers checked into what he called an especially elegant, large, and elaborate semi-bug house. The Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia had hotellike rooms, tennis courts, bowling, badminton, occupational therapy, roof gardens, and a pool for water therapy. 

Adequate rest, weight reduction if obese, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and use of assistive devices may improve symptoms and help maintain joint function. 

First, according to all the authors, their patients recovered in time to engage in occupational therapy the same day, even after immense doses of atropine - up to 200 mg or more. This contradicts our own studies with such compounds. We always observed higher doses to have longer-lasting effects. Doubling the dose of BZ, for example, extends its duration by about 48 hours. 

Medical non-pharmaceutical therapy of soft tissue rheumatism includes general and local rest, often physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and early mobilization. The pharmaceutical therapy of soft tissue rheumatism comprises analgesics and NSAIDs, the latter when inflammatory components are present. 

The assessment and treatment of autistic disorder and other pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) requires a multidisciplinary team approach. Initial interventions are largely based on educational programming and behavior management principles, particularly for preschool- and school-aged children and adolescents. Speech therapy is usually essential and physical and occupational therapy are often needed as well. Despite these extensive therapeutic efforts, many children, adolescents, and adults with PDDs remain significantly impaired. Under these conditions, drug treatment is often necessary and appropriate. 

BD and other forms of NCL are relatively rare, occurring in an estimated two to four of every 100,000 live births in the US [www.ninds.nih.gov]. There is currently no specific treatment for BD and current therapy simply alleviates the symptoms of the disease. Anticonvulsant drugs alleviate the associated seizures, and occupational therapy helps individuals compensate for the loss of vision, physical and mental abilities. Because BD involves the deterioration of neuronal cell tissue, it is a candidate for cellular therapy. 

Because these forms of mental illness are relatively common, many rehabilitation specialists will work with patients who are receiving drug therapy for an affective disorder. Also, serious injury or illness may precipitate an episode of depression in the patient undergoing physical rehabilitation. Consequently, this chapter will discuss the pharmacologic management of affective disorders, as well as how antidepressant and antimanic drugs may influence the patient involved in physical therapy and occupational therapy. 

Thrombolytic drugs (streptokinase, t-PA, others) usually do not have a direct impact on physical therapy or occupational therapy. Thrombolytics are typically given in acute situations, immediately following myocardial infarction. Therapists may, however, benefit indirectly from the effects of these drugs because patients may recover faster and more completely from heart attacks. Thrombolytics may also help reopen occluded peripheral vessels, thus improving tissue perfusion and wound healing in rehabilitation patients. 

Rehabilitation specialists will often treat patients taking some form of GI agent. These medications are commonly used by the general public, as well as by hospitalized individuals and outpatients receiving physical therapy and occupational therapy. Although the direct impact of most GI drugs on physical rehabilitation is relatively small, an understanding of how... 

When cancer is diagnosed, three primary treatment modalities are available surgery, radiation treatment, and cancer chemotherapy. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the basic rationale of cancer chemotherapy and to provide an overview of the drugs that are currently available to treat specific forms of cancer. Rehabilitation specialists will routinely work with patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy. For reasons that will become apparent in this chapter, these drugs tend to produce toxic effects that directly influence physical therapy and occupational therapy procedures. Therefore, this chapter should provide therapists with a better understanding of the pharmacodynamic principles and beneficial effects, as well as the reasons for the potential adverse effects of these important drugs. 

Therapists also deal with the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal disorders that are caused by an autoimmune response. Many of these diseases attack connective tissues, and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, dermatomyositis, and systemic lupus erythematosus are often the primary reason that patients undergo rehabilitation. Patients with a compromised immune system may develop musculoskeletal problems related to their immunodeficient state. Hence, immunomodulating drugs are frequently used in many patients receiving physical therapy and occupational therapy. 

Listed here are some potential interactions between physical agents used in rehabilitation and various pharmacologic agents. It is impossible to list all the possible relationships between the vast array of therapeutic drugs and the interventions used in physical therapy and occupational therapy However, some of the more common interactions are identified here. 

Lisa Daunhauer and Deborah Fidler, Occupational Therapy Department, Colorado State University, Colorado, USA... 

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