What do we do? OT simply put!

Can you imagine that every time you get ready for work, you take the stairs from your bedroom, with sleep still in your eyes and your hair a mess, only to need to push a baby grand piano out of the way to get to the kitchen.

If you had this ‘baby grand piano’ and needed to move it each and every day - you would be late for work, you would feel frustrated and you might even hurt yourself moving it. So, what’s the solution?

Bring in an occupational therapist! An OT would move the piano to a more functional spot, place it on wheels so it was easier to move or develop a conditioning program to improve your strength and endurance. With these simple changes, you could safely move the piano, get to work on time and feel productive and mentally fit heading out the door.

Various health issues can present the same types of barriers as the piano and prevent you from participating in daily activities. Occupational therapists are clinicians who, through their comprehensive and diverse training in physical and mental health conditions, help people learn new ways of doing the important things in life. 

Occupational therapists teach their clients how to use materials or equipment that make life easier, less confusing and more efficient. 

OTs work with people of all ages to remove their own baby grand pianos.

Occupational therapists work with infants to seniors - in many different ways, including:

• Working with children and teachers in a classroom to help children develop skills such as handwriting, computer use or to provide strategies to manage behaviours – skills that make it easier for students to learn and thrive in school.
• Working with patients with a brain injury to assess and treat cognitive challenges – problems with the ability to think, remember or communicate
• Working with clients with mental illness in outpatient programs, to help people living with anxiety or depression rebuild routines and productivity at home and the work place.
• Working with clients to identify and purchase equipment, such as wheelchairs or bathroom safety devices. So clients can remain safely in home when their physical abilities have changed as a result of illness, accident or aging.
• Working with clients following a workplace or motor vehicle injury to determine accommodations needed to be able perform their work duties.
• Working with clients, who have experienced a change in their physical or mental abilities, to return to work by adapting how they do their job, what type of job they do or making changes to the workplace.

Do you know anybody with a baby grand piano getting in the way of their life? They may be surprised to learn how much occupational therapy can help.