Physical and occupational therapy are types of rehabilitative medical services meant to help a patient recover from or mitigate the effects of a variety of conditions, including stroke, physical trauma, surgery, and brain damage, that restrict or change how the patient can use their body.

Both types of care aim to restore a patient’s independence and decrease the risk of further injury, however there are key differences between these services, and understanding which will help a patient most is key to a successful recovery.

How are Physical Therapy (PT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) Similar?

PT and OT share many similarities. These include:

• Both services typically involve working one-on-one with a specialist to develop custom care plans, often including exercises performed both under supervision and between sessions.
• Many insurance plans cover a set number of sessions per year that can be put towards PT, OT, and in some cases, Speech Therapy.
• Both services are fluid in where they can take place, depending on the mobility and needs of the patient. Both PT and OT sessions can take place in a hospital, outpatient office, or home setting.

What is Physical Therapy?

Physical therapists are often called “movement experts” because much of their work focuses on what are called “gross motor skills,” essentially large movements of the body, like raising or rotating your arms or walking.

The goal of PT is to restore as much range of motion, strength, and ability to impacted parts of the body while reducing pain and the risk of reinjury, typically through a mix of prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education.

What is Occupational Therapy and how does it differ?

Occupational therapists tend to have a broader, more results-based scope of care. Rather than working exclusively to return previous function to an injured part of the body, an OT instead helps their patient adapt, modify, or change daily activities that a patient needs or wants to perform. These tasks can range from activities of daily living like bathing, preparing/eating meals, and dressing, but can also include activities like opening doors or exiting a vehicle.

An OT will often guide a patient on how to adapt their environment, develop new techniques to complete tasks, or alter the task itself to promote greater patient independence.

PT tends to focus on range of motion and gross motor function, whereas OT will often assist a patient with fine motor skills, i.e. smaller, more precise actions usually made with the arms or hands, like picking up a pencil or using cutlery.

OT care extends beyond the physical, and can include developing coping strategies for a patient working through a mental health condition, as well as assistance in preserving or improving cognitive abilities following a stroke or similar medical event.

What type of care is right for me?

Both PT and OT services are usually initiated after your doctor or surgeon writes an order for your care, and will consider which type of rehabilitative service will best suit your needs.

Keep in mind that you have a say in the type of care you receive, and while undergoing rehabilitative care, try to keep a running list of activities and motions that are giving you trouble, and be mindful of how you are emotionally handling the recovery process. As you heal and progress in your rehabilitation, there may come a time where switching from one type of care to the other will net you the greatest benefit, but these changes can only happen if you voice your concerns and maintain strong communication with your medical care team.

How can home care aid your recovery?

Short term home health care services can be a critical support in the rehabilitative process, particularly in the initial weeks or months following a medical event when things like basic movement or more complex activities of daily living are most challenging.

A short term home health care plan can provide a patient with periodic support, either to complete specific tasks that are proving difficult, like laundry, cleaning, or running errands, while allowing the patient to focus their energy on recovery. Additionally, if the patient is receiving PT or OT services outside their home, a home health caregiver can be incredibly helpful in ensuring the patient safely reaches their sessions on time and ready to train.

To learn more about how SelectCare helps, call SelectCare today, request a free in-home care guide, or read firsthand accounts of our clients on the testimonials page.