Occupational Therapy Internal Medicine

The Role of Occupational Therapy in Neonatology:

Neonatal Occupational Therapy provides individualised habilitation and developmental stimulation to infants based on their ongoing behavioural cues.
Special attention is paid to environmental influences and therapists strive to provide family centred care.
The underlying philosophies of Occupational Therapy are akin to that of NIDCAP i.e. individualised, relationship-based, family centred care.

So what services can the Neonatal Occupational Therapist offer?

Perioral stimulation (to enhance feeding skills)
Therapeutic positioning (to prevent deformities, increase physiological flexion, provide comfort and containment)
Splinting (correct deformities)
Advice on environmental adaptations (to reduce infantile stress)
Sensory Stimulation (tactile, auditory, visual: to develop nerve mylination and reduce stress)
Brazelton Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale to identify infants strengths and weakness.
Facilitate self-regulatory capabilities.
Information group for parents which incorporates stress management and relaxation techniques.
Sibling play group.
Car seating assessments.
Develop individual home programmes for parents to follow at home.
Post discharge follow up assessments and interventions.

Who is likely to benefit from Occupational Therapy?