Ranah’s story- celebrating occupational therapists for Allied Health Professionals Day.

In this story: Occupational therapy /

"There is no better satisfaction than hearing you have helped a patient, even with the small things in life."

“As an occupational therapist the work can be so varied. That’s what I love about it. When I was growing up, I had a family member who was an occupational therapist, and I remember fondly how positively she spoke about her job, and I knew that was the job satisfaction I wanted

As a person I am sociable, I love to know people’s stories and hear their experiences- that might be why I love occupational therapy! Essentially, we want to know how people are feeling and how they manage activity within their day, so we can support them.

We help patients with a variety of things, it might be to support them manage anxiety or low mood, supporting them with cooking, dressing or any hobbies they may have, supporting them to manage their fatigue or long-covid symptoms, or to help reduce the risk of falls.

Work can be daunting for anyone who has had to take time off for any condition, and as occupational therapists, we can support people with making the transition back to work. We make personalised plans and recommendations with the patients, which are always tailored to the specific needs of each individual, so that we can make progress towards their goals together.

There is no better satisfaction than hearing you have helped a patient, even with the small things in life. Often patients will tell me it’s been lovely to have someone to just listen to them, and really understand their difficulties. Patients who have seen an occupational therapist right at the start of any diagnosis or symptoms often say that it has been so helpful to be educated in their condition in a non-medical way, which in turn enables them to self manage more effectively. I think that when patients know that I am at the practice and I can be contacted easily, and that I play a part in their primary care team, is really reassuring for them.”