Understanding the Scope of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy is defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) as, a therapeutic use of occupations, including everyday life activities with individuals, groups, populations, or organizations to support participation, performance, and function in roles and situations in home, school, workplace, community, and other settings (http://www.aota.org). Occupational therapists provide services for children, adults and the elderly with their physical health, mental health, and activities of daily living (ADL). They are used to improve illness, injuries, diseases, disorders, condition, impairments, disabilities, activity limitation or participation restriction (http://www.aota.org). The extensive amount of available occupational

Occupational therapists utilize activities to assist their patients with their everyday physical activity that would prevent them from any diseases or conditions that would impair their everyday life or help them build up their muscles so they can do their everyday living by themselves again. The CDC is an online website published with articles that are by professionals who are educated on what causes diseases and how to prevent those diseases. The primary purpose of the CDC is to spread knowledge and awareness on how to prevent certain concerns such as, diseases, conditions, illnesses, impairments and plenty more by the use of different specific articles. They aim their articles to be understood by everybody whether they are completely healthy and want to keep themselves healthy, seeking help for someone else or looking for answers for themselves. Along with the CDC, the AOTA website is another form of an authoritative source. The AOTA is an online website published by occupational therapists to spread forms of information such as different practices, policies, education and

The Occupational Therapy Practice Magazine is a magazine or weekly E-newsletter that goes into great detail on current and important topics to keep current practitioners and inspiring occupational therapists informed. In the editorial focus, the main audience and the magazine purpose are stated by, "OT Practice focuses on news and practical information that occupational therapy practitioners need to succeed professionally and that encourages discussion of professional concerns and views" and "… provides professional news and information on all aspects of practice and encourages dialogue among AOTA members on professional concerns and view." (OT Practice Author Guidelines, n.d.). The OT Practice is intended for one audience, which is all individuals involving themselves in the occupational therapy profession. The OT Practice is different than the other sources because it is not intended for a secondary audience. The Occupational Therapy Practice Magazine is written by occupational therapists to assist other occupational therapists with their