Occupational Therapist (OT)
Occupational therapists are healthcare professionals who work with people who have a permanent or temporary impairment in their physical, mental, or social functioning. The aim of occupational therapy is to help the client perform daily tasks in their living and working environments and to assist them in developing the skills to live independent, satisfying, and productive lives.Occupational therapy usually involves the use of purposeful activities, which have some meaning and relevance to a client (these are also called 'occupations' and include routine behaviors associated with work, leisure and self care). Another important area of intervention is by means of environmental manipulation to maximize ability (such as environments for wheelchair users) or afford the desired behaviors (e.g. set up the environment so that it contains cues to compensate for memory impairment).
Occupational therapists might work in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, school, outpatient clinic, or in the client's home as in home health. Some occupational therapists also conduct research to assess new techniques, rate the effectiveness of existing services, and investigate other areas into which occupational therapy might be beneficial. Additionally, there are some non-traditional roles such as consulting with lawmakers and doing home accessibility modification and ergonomic assessments of work environments.
Weblink to US Department of Labor Occupational Therapists: Occupational Therapists
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Therapist
http://www.aota.org/