Occupational therapy in the service of holistic medicine

Abstract:

Studying a human being as a biopsychosocial individual, whether healthy or ill, requires a scientific approach of experts in different fields of holistic medicine. According to holistic medicine, the effects of occupational therapy on health are multi-fold. Occupational therapists are healthcare professionals who use everyday activities as a therapeutic medium in their treatment interventions. They train individuals to perform everyday activities in the areas of self-care, productivity, organisation and using spare time; provide help, education and training in how to choose, organise and perform activities that a person finds purposeful and meaningful in the context of given life circumstances. Using a partnership relation, which emphasises the “person-environment-occupation” triad, an occupational therapist trains a person to perform selected activities at a satisfactory level. The final aim of occupational therapy interventions is to train a person to perform everyday activities as independently as possible, which has beneficial effects on the person’s health and quality of life. 

Key words:
holistic health; occupational therapy; persons