Occupational therapy and pulmonary rehabilitation

Abstract

Occupational therapists (OTs) are concerned with helping people to gain or regain independence in functional activities. These activities are referred to as 'occupations', but to an OT, the term occupation means much more than activities only related to productivity or work. OTs consider occupation to mean any meaningful and purposeful activity that allows someone to live as independently as possible and gives them a sense of identity [1]. This is a large remit and often leads to misunderstanding with regard to the role of an OT. People who attend pulmonary rehabilitation programmes often do so with a desire not only to regain exercise capacity but crucially to improve their ability to carry out their activities of daily living (ADLs) (or their occupations) that are restricted because of the impact of their respiratory disease. Most commonly this is due to breathlessness or fatigue. It is therefore a crucial element of any PR programme to ensure that any improvements made in exercise performance are translated into improvements in the person's ability to carry out activities of daily living.