Tuskegee University

Occupational Therapy (OT) is a health/rehabilitation profession whose practitioners work in a wide variety of settings including acute care hospitals, rehabilitation centers, psychiatric hospitals, community mental health facilities, schools, and nursing homes, to name a few. This profession contributes to the physical and emotional independence; and the well being of an individual or group of people through the selection of occupations or activities from everyday life that have meaning and purpose to the individual. This enables the individual to gain, regain, enhance, or prevent loss of habits, skills, tasks, routines or roles that the individual has performed in the past, or is learning to perform in order to participate fully as a contributing member of his or her community or personal environment. Occupational therapists provide services and programs for people of all ages who have physical, emotional, social, or developmental problems. Occupational therapy involves finding the right occupations or activities, designing the right environment, or creating the right opportunities for experiences that lead towards health, independence of function and the prevention of dysfunction.