What is Occupational Therapy? What is Hippotherapy. Learn how hippotherapy is an evidence-based practice used by many OTs to help their clients reach their goals. This post was created by Marra Robert, OTD, OTRL in April 2023.
What is occupational therapy?
Occupational therapists (OT) work with people across the lifespan to promote participation in activities that individuals need and want to do. OTs define occupations as any activity that occupies our time and is important to us. OT is a holistic, client-centered practice that looks at how person factors, the environment, and the occupation interact to facilitate meaningful participation in everyday
Where do OTs work?
Wherever people are! Hospitals, schools, clinics, organizations, companies, summer camps, in the home, and a barn, just to name a few. OTs work with a variety of settings with different people. They can also work on larger communities, companies, or with populations to improve well-being and quality of life.
What is the difference between an MSOT and an OTD Degree?
In order to be a practicing OT you need either a masters or a doctorate degree. A doctorate degree in occupational therapy offers all of the necessary foundation and clinical practice skills with additional skills in research, education, leadership, and a chosen focus area. OTD programs are becoming more widely known and available with many of the current OT graduate programs adding an option to get a doctorate level degree.
What is Hippotherapy?
Hippotherapy refers to how occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology professionals use evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning in the purposeful manipulation of equine movement to engage sensory, neuromotor, and cognitive systems to achieve functional outcomes. In conjunction with the affordances of the equine environment and other treatment strategies, Hippotherapy is part of a patient’s integrated plan of care.
Hostistic Healing for Horses is a resource that supports therapists using hippotherapy in hippotherapy programs or hippotherapy training.
This tool used in therapeutic practice is becoming more widely known as current research supports the use of the horse as a powerful tool for therapists to use in a hippotherapy session as part of a client’s’ plan of care to achieve their goals.
There is strong evidence that supports occupational therapists using hippotherapy to help clients with a with sensory processing as well as autism. Check out the blog post to learn more.
Learn more about the research that supports the use of horses during the occupational therapy treatment session to improve functional outcomes.
Questions for you
- Are you interested in becoming and OT and if so why?
- Are you an OT interested in learning more about hippotherapy and if so, what resources would be helpful?
Please comment below!