Energy conservation techniques can enhance your quality of life, enabling you to do the things you enjoy rather than only what needs to be done. Your physical therapist and occupational therapist can teach strategies for conserving energy.
An occupational therapist (OT) may assist in creating strategies to adapt your home environment so as to reduce bending and reaching, use lightweight cookware, and have food delivered instead of cooking at home.
What is Occupational Therapy?
Occupational therapy is an approach designed to enable individuals of any age or injury to live as independently as possible, by adapting both your environment and tasks, as well as teaching you how to use tools or aids that best suit you. It may involve simple things such as revamping your morning routine or accompanying you on regular walks; or more complex processes like learning how to cook. In addition, occupational therapy may enhance socialization skills or expand one’s ability to participate in hobbies and sports leagues with friends.
Retraining the brain to manage pain and reduce symptoms involves training your mind to use strategies to prevent over-exertion, such as using a pulse oximeter to monitor your blood oxygen levels and learn when something may cause fatigue or nausea; or switching your route to work or taking breaks before beginning strenuous tasks.
Occupational therapy aims to assist you in accomplishing the things most important to you – be that caring for yourself or family, doing your job well, socialising with friends or enjoying leisure activities. It may also be used as a treatment option for physical injuries or long-term illnesses which have an impactful impact on daily activities, or disabilities that limit our daily lives.
Occupational Therapists (OTs) specialize in working with various populations – from elderly individuals and children with special needs to children themselves – providing both physical and psychological/emotional treatment approaches for all aspects of treatment, from recovery from surgery or illness back into favorite hobbies, sports or interests. Counselors also offer education about effective coping and management techniques for depression, anxiety and other forms of mental illness that may impact physical wellbeing as well. Occupational Therapists can also aid individuals who have experienced traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, arthritis or other physical impairments in regaining independence in the home, workplace and community.
OT Assessment
Occupational therapy (OT) assessments typically consist of an hour-long in-person meeting, where your occupational therapist will evaluate your condition – such as injuries or illnesses that cause fatigue – before offering suggestions and providing treatments tailored specifically to you.
They will discuss several effective solutions for managing the situation, such as how best to complete daily tasks with limited energy resources. This could involve learning how to prioritize tasks so they are completed first or employing strategies such as pacing or taking rest breaks during the day.
If an occupational therapist determines that energy conservation techniques are suitable for you, they will devise an OT treatment plan designed to alleviate fatigue and increase quality of life. This may involve home modifications or adaptive equipment like shower chairs that reduce physical intensity when performing certain tasks.
OTs provide vital advice for patients suffering from chronic illnesses that impact activity tolerance, such as multiple sclerosis or cancer. Furthermore, they can educate you about safe body mechanics to reduce pain and avoid further injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome or repetitive use injuries.
Based on the nature of your referral, an occupational therapist (OT) may also focus on other areas of your lifestyle, such as hospital discharge planning or identifying adaptive equipment or care aides needed at home to support you after hospital discharge. This is often an essential step toward reducing re-admission to hospital or resumption of function following hospital release.
Once an occupational therapist (OT) has conducted their assessment, they will present their recommendations in writing, typically as a report. If they recommend continuing OT treatment services, they may arrange the first session as they leave. Otherwise, they can communicate the findings of their assessment to insurers or health care providers to secure funding for ongoing OT sessions; alternatively they could just use this assessment process to cultivate better coping mechanisms and increase resilience.
OT Treatment Plan
Once an occupational therapist (OT) has conducted their assessment, they will collaborate with you and any relevant family or caregivers to develop an individualized treatment plan. This may involve setting short- and long-term goals with specific techniques being used by the therapist to help achieve them. In some instances, special equipment like eating aids or wheelchairs may also be recommended in order to make daily life simpler for you.
Physical therapists or occupational therapists will teach you energy conservation as one of the key strategies. This involves pacing your activity so as not to burn out too quickly, and switching up light and heavy tasks throughout the day so your strength remains available for more demanding ones. Planning your day accordingly so you complete important tasks first while taking breaks when needed is also helpful; and, when possible, delegate tasks to family and friends for additional relief.
Occupational therapy is often utilized in hospice care settings where terminal illnesses such as advanced cancer or ALS exist. An occupational therapist’s role here is to teach both the patient and family members ways to reduce fatigue so that they may better enjoy what time remains and have a higher quality of life overall.
An occupational therapist might teach patients to manage their energy efficiently by taking frequent rest breaks, keeping their blood sugar stable, and gradually ramping up activity levels. Help with daily routines – planning and prioritizing their day so all essential tasks are completed first and avoiding extra trips in order to prevent fatigue. Care providers can also show patients how to keep all of their tools, like medications and food, organized so that they do not need to reach far for what they need. Furthermore, they may assist them in delegating some daily tasks to family, friends or hired caregivers. OTs provide assistance with self-care tasks like bathing and grooming as well as mobility assistance such as walking or using a wheelchair. In addition to helping patients, occupational therapists are also invaluable resources for teaching healthcare workers proper body mechanics to prevent repetitive-use injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow.
OT Goals
Energy conservation techniques are used to adapt activities so they use less energy and do not cause excessive fatigue. They assist patients in prioritizing tasks and minimizing overexertion, as well as adapting their environment in order to provide maximum support for daily living activities.
Fatigue is a symptom of many conditions, such as MS, COPD, aging and heart failure. Occupational therapy can assist individuals in managing the effects of fatigue while improving quality of life by teaching strategies to conserve energy. These may include pacing activities and taking rest breaks throughout the day or scheduling heavy and light tasks on different days of the week; using assistive devices (e.g. a reacher, sock aide, long-handled sponge shower chair tub bench electric kitchen tools rolling laundry basket or rollator) etc.
The patient [or caregiver] will show they have learned and implemented diaphragmatic and pursed lip breathing techniques to increase respiration for fatigue management, evidenced by self-initiated advocacy and execution strategies in three consecutive sessions over X weeks to increase carryover into daily activities.
Occupational therapists assist their clients to modify and simplify daily activities to reduce energy demands on the body, as well as teach new strategies for accomplishing tasks most important to them.
As part of their practice, occupational therapists (OTs) prescribe and implement exercise programs designed to enhance clients’ overall physical fitness and endurance. They incorporate cardiovascular conditioning, strength training and flexibility exercises for maximum health benefits and rehabilitation outcomes.
Patients suffering from respiratory conditions, such as COPD or chronic lung diseases, must utilize energy conservation techniques in order to conserve oxygen for brain function. Over-exertion can cause desaturation, where blood oxygen levels drop below an acceptable range and oxygen desaturation occurs.
Utilizing energy conservation techniques can enable people of all ages to live more independently at home and in the community. Our occupational therapy staff can work with you to develop an individual energy conservation plan tailored specifically for you – contact us now so we can discuss your goals!
