The Role of the Occupational Therapist in Life Care Planning

in the formation of life care plans. Occupational therapy services typically include individualized evaluations, customized therapy interventions, and ongoing treatment assessment. The purpose of this article is to educate life care planners about the roles and functions of the occupational therapist and understand how their skills can be used to assist in life care plan development. Occupational therapy (OT) is a health profession that is centered around the client, with the primary goal of enabling individuals to engage in everyday activities, while promoting health and well-being (World Federation of Occupational Therapy [WFOT], 2012). These outcomes are attained by working with the individual and communities by strengthening their “abilities to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, are expected to do, or by modifying the occupation or environment to better support occupational engagement” (WFOT, 2012). The occupational therapist can also provide a unique and critical role in the formation of life care plans, as many of the areas of the life care plan fall under the domain of OT. These areas include daily tasks of selfcare, play, school, work, and social participation, which are the very core of the practice of OT. Occupational therapists aid individuals of all ages to function in all environments (e.g. home, work, school, community) by addressing physical, psychological and cognitive aspects of health (Berens & Weed, in press). These facets of health are addressed by providing: