Occupational therapy assistants – those with an occupational therapy assistant degree – contribute profoundly to the range of resources and services every community needs to be its best. Here’s a look at the various ways occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) contribute to the health and wellness of their communities.
OTAs Helping Within the Community
You’ll find OTAs working to help people achieve their goals in a wide variety of settings. OTAs encourage and assist individuals in homeless and battered-women shelters, correctional facilities, group homes, workplaces, schools, hospitals, and in coordination with other community-based initiatives.
Earning an occupational therapy assistant degree prepares you to work with individuals who have a wide range of conditions. Instead of focusing on the medical conditions, OTAs and others in occupational therapy careers focus on improving mental, emotional, developmental, and physical competencies to help that person reach their maximum potential. Some examples:
OTAs Emphasize a Whole-person Approach to Care
On the way to earning an occupational therapy assistant degree, OTAs learn activities they can do with clients to promote better health outcomes. OTA students gain the skills and knowledge needed to accomplish client goals in concert with occupational therapists (OTs), and often in coordination with other healthcare professionals.
Some examples of an OTA’s involvement in health and wellness activities:
CUKC: Occupational Therapy Assistant Degree
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is a nonprofit, private, healthcare-focused university located in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of more than 190,000 people within the Kansas City metro area. For health sciences education, CUKC is the place.
At CUKC, you can earn your occupational therapy assistant degree in a 2-year format instead of a 4-year format, by choosing the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Occupational Therapy Assistant degree. Think of the accelerated A.A.S. occupational therapy assistant degree plan as a highly efficient way to go from a degree to a career in as little as two years.
There’s never been a better time to earn your occupational therapy assistant degree, and at CUKC classes start three times per year. The accelerated A.A.S. degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant at CUKC consists of 16 core courses that include 4-5 months of fieldwork education. The guided fieldwork involves you in client scenarios that will allow you to meet employer expectations.
Go here to explore the CUKC occupational therapy assistant degree and learn more about career options from this free ebook: Your Complete Guide to an Occupational Therapy Assistant Career.