UCLA Outpatient Rehabilitation Services Programs: Occupational and Physical Therapy

When it comes to regaining independence and improving quality of life after an injury, illness, or surgery, rehabilitation services play a crucial role. UCLA Health offers a comprehensive range of outpatient rehabilitation programs, including occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT), delivered by a team of specialized experts. These therapies aim to enhance a patient's ability to perform daily activities and improve overall well-being.

Occupational Therapy at UCLA Health

Occupational therapy focuses on helping individuals of all ages participate in the activities and tasks that are meaningful and important to them, often referred to as "occupations" or "activities of daily living" (ADLs). These occupations or ADLs can include self-care activities (such as bathing, dressing, and eating), work tasks, leisure activities, and social participation.

The Role of Occupational Therapists

Occupational therapists (OTs) are healthcare professionals who help individuals develop, recover, or maintain the skills needed for daily living and working. They focus on promoting independence and participation in meaningful activities. Leah Dimalanta, a UCLA Health Occupational Therapist, describes occupational therapy as blending medicine and healthcare with being a teacher. As an OT, you not only provide education, but you also become a patient’s guide as they navigate their healthcare journey.

OTs assess a patient’s functional abilities, identify barriers to participation, and develop personalized intervention plans. They may provide therapeutic activities, recommend assistive devices, modify environments, and teach compensatory strategies to improve a person’s independence and quality of life. Occupational therapy focuses on improving someone's activities of daily living (or ADLs), like getting dressed or grooming or eating. OTs look for ways to bridge the gap, so that these patients can start working on being independent again and doing the things they were doing before they got sick.

When is Occupational Therapy Needed?

Patients may need occupational therapy when they experience physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges that interfere with their ability to perform daily activities. There are several reasons why patients might require OT:

Physical injuries or disabilities: After accidents, surgeries, or conditions like a stroke, patients may need OT to regain skills necessary for independent living, such as dressing, grooming, and cooking.
Cognitive impairments: Individuals with conditions like dementia or traumatic brain injury may require OT to enhance cognitive abilities, memory, and problem-solving skills.
Mental health conditions: OT can help individuals with mental health disorders manage symptoms, improve coping strategies, and develop social skills.
Developmental delays: Children with developmental delays may benefit from early intervention OT to improve fine motor skills, sensory processing, and self-care abilities.
Chronic conditions: OT can assist individuals with chronic illnesses like arthritis or multiple sclerosis in managing symptoms and maintaining independence in daily life.

Leah Dimalanta emphasizes the wide continuum of care that an occupational therapist can work in. Occupational therapists may be called in to assist right when patients get sick, or it could be in the middle, or it could be near the end. And that helps them determine what kind of treatments to focus on and decide which strategies will get them back to what they were doing.

Common Misconceptions About Occupational Therapy

There are several common misconceptions about occupational therapy:

Occupational therapists provide employment or career advice: Occupational therapists focus on improving a patient's ability to perform daily activities, not on providing career counseling.
Occupational therapists have an easy "fix" or "solution" for the patient: The process is more involved and requires the patient to be an active participant. Occupational therapists help the patient become a problem solver.
Once you accept occupational therapy, you’ll need it forever: Once a person gets therapy and learns what they need to do, then they can be their own therapist and achieve independence.

Becoming an Occupational Therapist

To be a successful occupational therapist, Leah Dimalanta says a person should have the following strengths:

Flexibility: Every patient, every case, every setting is unique, so a good OT needs to be able to adapt and do so quickly to provide the best patient care.
Solid Communication Skills: Not only do you need to explain to your patients what you're doing and why but you also have to clearly communicate your recommendations to the interdisciplinary team treating each patient.
Passion for the Profession: Having a lot of passion for what you do is helpful because you're ultimately an advocate for your patient.

To become an occupational therapist, one needs a master's degree in occupational therapy from an accredited program though many programs also offer doctoral degrees as well. The path to becoming an occupational therapist usually involves completing a bachelor's degree (4 years) followed by a master's or doctoral program in occupational therapy (2-3 years). Overall, it takes around 6-7 years of education and clinical training.

According to US News, the median salary for occupational therapists in 2022 was $93,180. Additionally, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects over 16,000 new jobs to be added to the field between 2022 and 2032, which is a growth rate of 12%.

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Occupational therapists work in various settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, community health centers, nursing homes, mental health facilities, and private practice.

Leah Dimalanta suggests volunteering in a variety of different settings to get firsthand experience about what kind of situation might be a good fit: "You can do clinical fieldwork in different settings, including hospitals, rehab or skilled nursing facilities, and pediatric clinics. Even in the community, there's different OT outpatient clinics and mental health facilities." Getting some exposure will help to determine which path is going to be the best for you.

Physical Therapy at UCLA Health

Physical therapy focuses on helping individuals improve their physical function, mobility, and strength in order to improve the ability to perform ADLs. They assess and treat movement dysfunctions, as well as neurological and musculoskeletal conditions that may result from injury, illness, or disability.

The Role of Physical Therapists

Physical therapists (PTs) are healthcare professionals who specialize in restoring movement and function in individuals affected by injury, illness, or disability. Leena Uranwala, a UCLA Health Physical Therapist, describes physical therapy as a healing art, and physical therapists consider themselves movement specialists. Their specialty is the neuro-musculo-skeletal system and their role is to educate patients on how to optimize the function of that system.

Physical therapists evaluate a patient’s movement patterns and impairments, diagnose movement dysfunctions, and develop individualized treatment plans. They use a variety of techniques such as therapeutic exercises, manual therapy, and modalities to improve mobility, reduce pain, and prevent disability. Physical therapists try to facilitate healing and optimize a patient's physical function within their daily lives. They look at a person very holistically, because what they do in life and what kind positions and postures they might have to sustain are all factors that may affect their outcomes.

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When is Physical Therapy Needed?

Patients typically require physical therapy when they experience impairments in movement, balance, strength, or mobility. PT may be recommended for various reasons, including:

Injury rehabilitation: After surgeries, fractures, falls or sports injuries, physical therapy helps patients regain strength, flexibility, and range of motion.
Chronic pain management: PT can alleviate pain and improve function for individuals with conditions like arthritis, fibromyalgia, headaches, neck pain, or back pain.
Neurological conditions: Patients with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, or spinal cord injuries benefit from PT to enhance mobility, coordination, and balance.
Cardiovascular conditions: PT is crucial for patients recovering from heart attacks, strokes, or cardiac surgeries to improve cardiovascular health, endurance, and functional capacity.
Pre- and post-surgical care: PT plays a vital role in preparing patients for surgery, optimizing their physical condition, and facilitating recovery afterward.
Pediatric conditions: PT is used to assist infants and children with developmental disorders, sensory processing issues, and conditions like scoliosis.
Pelvic health: Physical therapy can help treat incontinence, pelvic pain, postpartum issues.

Occupational Therapy vs. Physical Therapy: Understanding the Difference

When it comes to rehabilitation, occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) are two essential fields that both aim to enhance a patient's ability to perform daily activities and improve overall well-being. And while they may overlap in some aspects, occupational therapists focus on helping individuals engage in meaningful activities and tasks, while physical therapists focus on improving physical function, mobility, and strength.

Occupational Therapy (OT):

Focus: OTs focus on helping individuals of all ages participate in the activities and tasks that are meaningful and important to them, often referred to as "occupations" or "activities of daily living" (ADLs).
Strategies: OTs use a holistic approach to address physical, cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors that may impact a person's ability to engage in daily activities. They may utilize interventions such as adaptive equipment, environmental modifications, sensory integration therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and skill-building exercises.
Settings: OTs work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, mental health facilities, community health centers, and private practice.

Physical Therapy (PT):

Focus: PTs focus on helping individuals improve their physical function, mobility, and strength (in order to improve the ability to perform ADLs.
Strategies: PTs use a variety of techniques and modalities to address impairments, relieve pain, restore mobility, and promote functional independence. These may include therapeutic exercises and activites, manual therapy, gait training, balance training, sensory integration, aquatic therapy, taping, and modalities such as biofeedback and electrical stimulation.
Settings: PTs work in diverse settings, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, sports medicine facilities, skilled nursing facilities, schools, and home health agencies.

Why Choose UCLA Health for Rehabilitation Services?

UCLA Health's rehabilitation services team includes more than 300 employees with specialized expertise. Their rehabilitation specialists include physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, prosthetists/orthotists, audiologists, speech pathologists, cardiopulmonary rehab specialists and integrative therapists. In addition to orthopedic and neurologic care, they offer specialty services in pelvic floor rehab, lymphedema, hand therapy, geriatrics, balance and fall prevention, cochlear implant services, cardiopulmonary rehab and more.

When you choose UCLA Health rehabilitation services, you are choosing:

Excellent success rates: Patients and staff members work together to strategically develop care plans and problem-solve using evidence-based standards. UCLA Health partners with you to ensure your voice is heard and your needs are met. As a result, their patient satisfaction rate is consistently greater than 90%.
Easy access to care: UCLA Health provides both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation care. Patients have easy access to services through more than 15 rehab locations.
Specialized services: UCLA Health targets specific rehabilitation programs to specific patients. For example, they provide specialized services for babies and children in intensive care. They also lead community outreach programs to empower seniors to stay active and continue living independently.

UCLA Health's Areas of Rehabilitation Care

UCLA rehabilitation services include a range of specialized care programs.

Audiology: UCLA Health's team of expert audiologists works with patients through the life span. They conduct newborn hearing screenings and specialize in hearing aids and cochlear implant programming and management. They work closely with the multidisciplinary medical team to provide state-of-the-art, evidence-based care.
Cardiac rehabilitation: UCLA Health's Cardiac Rehabilitation Program is a supervised and monitored outpatient program designed to help improve your cardiovascular health following a recent heart event, procedure, and/or surgery.
Hand therapy: UCLA Health's certified hand therapists specialize in hand and upper extremity injuries. Their aim is to reduce pain and improve function after a hand injury or diagnosis. These services may be appropriate if you have complex regional pain syndrome, a fracture, repetitive strain injury, tendonitis or arthritis.
Integrative Medicine: Integrative medicine includes non-medication strategies to promote health, symptom management, and relaxation. UCLA Health offers integrative therapy to patients who are hospitalized within UCLA Health and also on an outpatient basis. Treatments may include gentle movement, aromatherapy, guided meditations or breathing exercises.
Massage therapy: Massage is beneficial to relieve stress, encourage relaxation, and promote a sense of well-being. Relaxation massage therapy services are available at the bedside for hospitalized patients.
Occupational therapy: Occupational therapists work with patients to improve function with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing or grooming. They assess balance, strength and cognition. Depending on your condition, they may also suggest equipment (such as a cane or walker) or home modifications. They also provide education to family members and support people to ensure that you are well cared for when you return home after a hospital stay. In the inpatient/hospital setting, they work with patients to improve their ability to perform activities of daily living to enable them to progress to the next level of care. In the outpatient setting, they work with patients with a wide range of diagnoses, including orthopaedic, neurologic and pediatric. A specialty area within outpatient occupational therapy is hand therapy.
Pelvic Health Physical Therapy: UCLA Health's pelvic health physical therapists optimize pelvic floor muscle health and treat pelvic floor dysfunction. Pelvic health physical therapists can help patients with a range of concerns and health conditions including (but not limited to): bladder concerns (urgency, leakage), bowel dysfunction (constipation, leakage), pelvic pain, pregnancy and postpartum care, or post abdominal and pelvic surgery.
Physical therapy: Physical therapists help people return to or gain higher levels of function after an illness or injury. They evaluate strength, range of motion, balance and endurance, and write personalized treatment plans. They may use exercise, manual techniques, or modalities to improve your function. Physical therapists also can recommend durable medical equipment, such as walkers or wheelchairs. In the inpatient/hospital setting, they provide mobility-related therapy to enable patients to progress to the next level of care. In the outpatient setting, they work with patients with a wide range of diagnoses, including orthopaedic, neurologic and pediatric. In addition, their specialized services within outpatient physical therapy include lymphedema management, pelvic floor rehab, vestibular rehab, burn care, balance and fall prevention, including an exercise program especially for seniors, and much more.
Prosthetics and orthotics: These rehabilitation specialists evaluate, measure, fabricate and fit patients with artificial limbs and braces. This treatment may be appropriate for some patients with neuromuscular or musculoskeletal disorders. It is also an appropriate treatment for those who have experienced amputation, trauma or gone through certain surgeries.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation: UCLA Health's comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation program helps you improve your respiratory function with exercise, education, and mental health support. They use research-based therapies to improve your health and quality of life.
Speech Pathology: Through the Speech Pathology Clinics, they provide comprehensive treatment for speech, language, and cognitive and swallowing problems for adults and children. They offer services on both an inpatient and outpatient basis.

UCLA Health's goal is to coordinate your care as conveniently as possible. They communicate their findings to your primary care provider and involve you in forming and customizing your treatment plan.

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