The four staffers are marking National Occupational Therapist Month.

FARMINGTON – This month Franklin Memorial Hospital’s occupational therapists are celebrating National Occupational Therapy Month.

“Occupational therapy can help the worker injured on the job, the senior citizen with arthritis trying to manage at home, and the school child struggling to master handwriting,” said Marie Wade, FMH director of physical rehabilitation and sports medicine. Occupational therapy helps people master the skills for the job of living.”

“More than one fourth of the occupational therapists in the U.S. work in school systems, where they help children pursue the ‘occupations’ of learning, playing, and growing,” said Wade. “Three of our four occupational therapists work within the school systems in Franklin County.”

The staff occupation therapists at the hospital are Alice VanDerwerken, Erica Engelmann, Barbara White and Karen Nevers.

The need for occupational therapy services for children is on the rise in this area. The occupational therapy staff works closely with teachers, speech therapists and physical therapists to assure a comprehensive, multidisciplinary team effort. Children are often referred to occupational therapy for help in handwriting, a skill necessary for the “job” of student. But, occupational therapy also helps those with developmental deficits, learning disabilities, physical injuries, and psychological and social disabilities.

“One of our occupational therapist, Alice VanDerwerken is a certified hand therapist. She works specifically with any type of upper extremity injury. This could be related to an occupational injury or some other type of trauma. Alice is one of six certified hand therapists in the state,” said Wade. “Some common conditions she may treat include tendon repairs, nerve injuries and partial amputations of the hand. Many of our patients travel a significant distance to access Alice’s expertise.”

In older people, arthritis, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease can all affect the ability to carry out many activities of daily living like dressing and eating. Occupational therapists teach new ways, or provide ingenious equipment to help carry out these tasks, making their patients as independent and safe as possible.

Occupational therapists hold either a bachelor’s or master’s degree and are required to complete clinical internships in areas such as mental health and physical disabilities. They are also required to pursue continuing education to retain board certification.

People interested in learning more about the occupational therapy profession are encouraged to visit the American Occupational Therapy Association Web site at www.aota.org.