职业治疗for cancer patients: What is it, and who needs it?

Cancer和itstreatments, such aschemotherapy和surgery, can sometimes affect a patient’s physical and cognitive functions. This can affect daily tasks, like getting dressed, and hobbies, like gardening or fishing.

职业治疗plays a pivotal role in helping patients overcome such challenges. To learn more about this type of therapy, we spoke with occupational therapist Sydney Ewing, who specializes in treating patients with orthopaedic cancers.

What is occupational therapy?

职业治疗helps patients who have a change in mental or physical function regain skills for everyday activities, whether that’s high-level tasks or basic functions. For example, we can help patients with basic tasks like getting dressed on their own or high-level ones like caring for their children. We come up with creative ideas to help patients and offer support. We use a lot of adaptive equipment to help patients overcome a deficit or do task analysis where you break down the task – usually just a specific piece of it – and modify it and provide a level of assistance. It’s a lot of thinking out of the box, and a lot of trial and error.

What is the difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy?

职业治疗is rehabilitation to return to daily activities all the way up to your leisure interests. Physical therapy focuses more on specific mobility and transfer training, as well as strength and endurance and range of motion.

职业疗法和物理疗法对几乎每个患者都至关重要，以改善其康复和生活质量。您不能在没有步行的情况下walk狗。因此，这两种疗法齐头并进，这是一个协作过程。

Who needs occupational therapy?

职业治疗can benefit so many patients. Occupational therapists can address:

• Daily living activities
• Fatiguemanagement
• Psychosocial barriers to engaging in activities
• Body image
• 性和性活动
• Cognitive deficits
• Lymphedemamanagement
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Upper extremity pain and dysfunction
• Fine motor impairments
• Visual impairments
• Community/work reintegration

What can patients expect when they meet with an occupational therapist?

通常，在他们的初步评估中，我们对患者进行了很好的概述。我们了解他们在需要职业治疗之前的表现。患者和职业治疗师合作，确定患者试图返回的东西，试图实现的目标，他们的缺陷是什么以及我们如何克服这些缺陷。如果是特定的力量缺陷，或者他们已经接受了上肢手术，则治疗可能涉及运动或运动范围。我们试图与患者设定目标，并提出不同的想法以实现这些目标。

为什么职业治疗对癌症患者很重要？

职业治疗has a lot to offer for cancer patients. I help patients overcome chemotherapy- and辐射-related fatigue, as well as recover after surgery. Sometimes cancer patients have mental challenges, and occupational therapy can help keep the patient engaged. Some patients feel like they’ve lost their lives, but occupational therapists can provide support for them by finding ways to keep them engaged mentally.

您如何治疗儿科癌症患者的职业治疗？

While adult patients are able to better understand their treatment, kids often don’t always understand what’s going on. So, we try to be a little bit more playful and disguise therapy as play with pediatric patients. We’ll target specific areas like balance or strength disguised as play.

父母也是治疗过程的一部分，因此我们正在培训父母，以帮助他们的孩子接受治疗。孩子们有很多耐心，与他们建立信任很重要。

How do you plan occupational therapy for patients?

I always come in with an idea and plan for what to work on that day based on goals we came up with in the initial evaluation. The plan depends on how the patient is feeling and what they want to work on. We always come up with a final plan together.

And plans can always change. There is always room to do more, to modify, to come up with a successful plan that works for the patient. We’re always trying to get the patient to the finish line.

How long does occupational therapy typically last?

For patients who’ve undergone surgery, I usually plan their occupational therapy to last for about four weeks after their procedure. We typically work together about five times a week, but the frequency varies depending on the patient’s needs. Sessions last between 30 minutes to an hour. If patients need ongoing occupational therapy services after they’re discharged from the hospital, they can be referred to an outpatient occupational therapist or a home health occupational therapist.

How do you measure a patient’s success with occupational therapy?

I usually measure a patient’s success by their ability to engage in their life, whether they need assistance or can operate independently. Keeping people engaged in their life and their interests takes my help, but it also requires the patient to practice independently outside of our time together. Our goal is to maintain the patient’s quality of life and set them up with tools to do that outside of the hospital.

How do patients atMD Andersonget connected to an occupational therapist?

Patients atMD Andersoncan ask their primary physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner to refer them to our occupational therapy services. This can be done on either an inpatient or outpatient basis.

Request an appointment at MD Anderson onlineor by calling 1-877-632-6789.