Currently, occupational therapists focus more on providing activities that are designed to promote skills needed in daily living, including self-care (“Occupational” Encyclopedia 620). They use a wide variety of activities to help clients attain their goals for productive, independent living (“Occupational” Encyclopedia 621). Patients are shown by an occupational therapist how to use appropriate adaptive equipment, such as leg braces, wheelchairs, and eating aids. With these devices, patients are able to perform a number of daily tasks more independently (“Occupational” Occupational). Although occupational and physical therapy both deal with physical factors, they are not the same (“Occupational” Encyclopedia 620-621).
Physical therapy is concerned with aiding patients that have physical disabilities or injuries to regain functions while occupational therapists work