Occupational Therapy Assistant
An occupational therapy assistant works under the direct supervision of a licensed occupational therapist who has completed occupational therapy requirements and finished an occupational therapist degree. The primary duty of an occupational therapy assistant is to work with patients in following and managing their rehabilitation and recuperation plans developed by the supervising occupational therapist.
Nature of Work
More specific responsibilities will potentially include instructing injured patients on how to properly stretch, move, and strengthen their muscles, training disabled patients so that they can function well in society, and keeping sufficient records of patient improvements for the supervising occupational therapist to review and assess. The usual activities managed and taught by occupational therapy assistants to disabled patients are proper strategy of moving from a bed into a wheelchair, injury prevention, and stretching and regaining added flexibility on the muscles of the hand. Always under the supervision of occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants keep a watchful eye on patients’ activities to ensure that they are done properly. Moreover, they are also there to give encouragement to the patients. A range of clerical tasks are also performed by occupational therapy assistants. They schedule appointments, answer the phone, restock or order depleted medical supplies, fill out paperwork like insurance forms, record the billing details of the patients’ health insurance providers, and prepare or assemble materials as directed by the occupational therapist.
Typical working environments of occupational therapy assistants are hospitals, offices and residential care facilities of occupational therapists, home health care agencies, family services, and government agencies. Generally, an almost similar distribution are observed in the number of occupational therapist assistants employed in work settings such as hospitals, physicians’ clinics or offices, and nursing care facilities.
One particular thing to note is the obvious need for the occupational therapist assistant to have a modicum of physical strength or to be in good physical shape because exertion is necessary to help patients. Lifting patients, stooping, kneeling, and standing for long periods of time are all also within the scope of responsibility. Evening and weekend working hours are also normal in this particular line of work. Moreover, part time and full time work schedule options are available for occupational therapy assistants. There are also travel assignments if one opts to go through an agency for contractual work in different locations.
Job prospects for occupational therapy assistants are quite high in the orthopedic settings. Rural areas also require more occupational therapy assistants than in the urban and suburban milieu. In most cases, job opportunities are plentiful in this line of work, and the employment rate is steadily increasing according to the projections of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Home health care services that cater to the medical needs of the elderly pay the best salary rates and hire the most number of occupational therapy assistants. This may be attributed to the rise in number of the elderly in the population. The elderly are especially susceptible to so many debilitating and chronic medical conditions that normally call for occupational therapy services. Furthermore, since these patients are older, not only do they call for an actual occupational therapist, they will also necessitate having an aide or an occupational therapy assistant to perform the health care objectives set forth by the occupational therapist. Also, the present generation has relied on fast foods and the convenience of automated equipment inside their homes for a long period of time; these factors have eventually contributed to unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles. Thus, an alarmingly substantial part of the population ha cardiac problems, which normally require physical rehabilitation as part of the post-treatment regimen.
The rising demand for employment of occupational therapy assistants is also an offshoot of having so many occupational therapists who decide to simply hire more occupational therapy assistants or aides. This is done in order to minimize the costs of their occupational therapy services. Once a patient has been assessed and the right treatment plan has been put in place by the occupational therapist, then the occupational therapy assistant will just maintain and will take notes on the progress of lack thereof of the treatment program while being supervised by the occupational therapist.
The occupational therapy assistant’s job is essentially tailored for individuals who do not want lengthy periods spent in completing their formal education and who are also inherently compassionate to others. Stripped down to its basic form, the occupational therapist assistant’s role is to help those who have physical or mental challenges go through their daily lives as conveniently and as painless as possible. With a positive job outlook, job prospects always on the rise, and the chance to help other people, becoming an occupational therapy assistant seems like a very promising career. For some, it is a very rewarding job.
Education and Licensing
An associate’s degree or a completion of a one-year certificate program is a minimum requirement to start one’s journey in becoming an occupational therapy assistant. The associate’s degree or the certification can be earned from many occupational therapy colleges and subsequent experiences from occupational therapy internships. If an occupational therapy assistant started out as an aide, then the training has already been acquired in the course of performing the line of work. Many of the states regulate the practice and job constraints of occupational therapist assistants. Regulation is done via certification, licensing, or registration.
The school attended by the occupational therapist assistant must be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE); otherwise one cannot take the national certifying exam. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 135 ACOTE-accredited occupational therapist assistant training programs in 2009.
During the first year of education, introductory courses on healthcare, anatomy, physiology, and basic medical terminology are offered. The second year of the associate degree program will normally include occupational therapy courses in subjects such as mental health, gerontology, adult physical disabilities, and pediatrics. 16 weeks of supervised fieldwork in either a community or a clinical setting must be completed.
Licensure, registration, or certification requirements are mandated in forty states, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the District of Columbia, in order to start practicing as an occupational therapist assistant. Certification is not mandatory, though a title of Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) is given to those who pass the national certifying exam. And if also a licensed one, then the title of Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant-Licensed (COTA-L) can be appended. So applying for a certification is left to the discretion of the occupational therapy assistant, though a certification will help tremendously if one is planning to further advance in this line of work. Maintaining the certification is also expected to gain professional development; an occupational therapist assistant can participate in regular education courses and workshops across the country.
The National Certification Exam that is given by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) with website at www.nbcot.org.
Advancements, like in other professions, are also available to occupational therapist assistants. They can be promoted to administration positions like heading a group of other occupational therapy assistants or serving as director for an occupational therapy department or any specific departments such as those intended for sports medicine, etc. Occupational therapist assistants can also be part of educational institutions where they handle and teach classes.
Occupational therapy aides, a similar but unregulated class of occupational therapist health workers, can advance to hold occupational therapist assistant positions after undergoing formal education and proper training. One good thing to note about aides is that they mostly undergo all the training that they need while they are still performing their jobs alongside occupational therapy assistants.
Salary Considerations
A typical certified occupational therapist assistant earns a median figure of $48,074 per year in the United States. This annual salary is current as of November 2011 and is calculated from a statistical extrapolation of thousands of data collected from thousands of Human Resources departments of different institutions and companies in the country. Just like in all professions, many aspects and job considerations, such as years of experience, accredited occupational therapy assistant programs attended, age, and the geographical location of the place of employment, will make a significant impact on the occupational therapy assistant’s salary. A median annual salary range is expected to be $41,540 – $60,680.
The following cities in the United States have the highest levels of employment for occupational therapist assistants: New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Dallas, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Chicago.
The specialty fields which pay the highest salaries are those that are associated with home health care services which cater to the elderly sector who are prone to debilitating health issues. This is where the most number of patients requiring the assistance of an occupational therapist assistant belong to.
Occupational therapy assistants earn most when they are employed by home health care services. Comparable salaries are earned by those occupational therapy assistants hired by offices or clinics of health practitioners such as physicians, nursing care facilities, and general medical and surgical hospitals. The sectors which pay the least are those in the educational institutions like elementary and secondary schools.
