Role of Occupational Therapy for Cancer

By: Regan Tarrow
 "The physical, emotional, and cognitive implications associated with chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery can result in decreased ability to engage in meaningful occupations, including maintaining one's home, returning to work, and performing prior social roles and responsibilities adequately. This can have a profound impact on one's economic status and personal interactions, which affect overall occupational performance, quality of life, and well-being." 

   Occupational therapists really help cancer patients with the fatigue and pain that they go through. In the video, I am amazed at how much the therapy has helped the patient. She explains how after chemotherapy she usually feels an extreme amount of fatigue, but when having occupational therapy, she has had an extreme boost in energy levels. Also, occupational therapists help with the pain that they are feeling also. The exercises they do not only works the brain but the muscles that are being tensed up from the treatment. I am so proud of occupational therapists and how they are making the lives of cancer patients much more enjoyable. This just shows you that medicine isn't the only treatment in cancer. Just having somebody to encourage you and make you work harder can boost your confidence and energy levels. 

   Occupational therapists help cancer patients go back to their normal routines back home after getting chemotherapy or surgeries. They help bathe and dress the patients, establish exercise routines to maintain strength like bed positioning and comfort, address cognitive memory skills to keep the brain working hard, and use lymphedema management to reduce swelling of the muscles to prevent the range of motion of decreasing. All of these examples are necessary to get the cancer patient back on their feet at home and start living the way they deserve to. 

References:
"Occupational Therapy's Role in Breast Cancer Rehabilitation." Aota.org. AOTA, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. <http://www.aota.org/About-Occupational-Therapy/Professionals/HW/Breast-Cancer.aspx>.
"Occupational Therapy." Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Rosewell Park Cancer Institute, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. <https://www.roswellpark.org/patients/treatment-services/supportive-services/rehabilitation/occupational-therapy>.