Occupational Therapy is an interesting and rewarding career. Occupational Therapists aim to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. As an Occupational Therapist you will work in partnership with individuals, families and communities to enable them to participate more fully in their daily ‘occupations’. ‘Occupation’ is the term used to describe all the ways in which we occupy our time – the tasks and activities essential for daily life – washing, dressing, feeding and moving around, as well as the more complex areas of working, leisure, socialising and managing finances and home. Illness, trauma or social disadvantage can result in difficulties in these areas. Occupational Therapists design and deliver intervention programmes to address these difficulties. They also work with individuals and groups to adapt daily life activities to promote better health, prevent ill-health and maintain health and flourishing as much as possible.

 

As an Occupational Therapist, you could work in a large variety of settings and with many different individuals and groups. Occupational Therapists work in hospitals, primary care, community care, rehabilitation services, disability network teams, schools, industry, academia, healthcare management and administration, community/voluntary organisations and in private practice. They work across the lifespan from neo-natal services to older age and across all types of health and social concerns – from specialist neuro-rehabilitation to primary care, to mental health and to homelessness services. The BSc (Occupational Therapy) programme at the University of Galway will prepare you for wherever you wish your career in Occupational Therapy to take you.