Occupational Therapy Aides
Overview
SaveJob Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
Experience
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Examples
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
Under close supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing patient and treatment room.
Yearly Salary
| High: | $58K |
| Median: | $30K |
| Low: | $20K |
Demand
Core Tasks
- Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to facilitate the attainment of therapeutic goals.
- Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments.
- Evaluate the living skills and capacities of clients with physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities.
- Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records.
- Prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies.
- Assist occupational therapists in planning, implementing, and administering therapy programs to restore, reinforce, and enhance performance, using selected activities and special equipment.
- Instruct patients and families in work, social, and living skills, the care and use of adaptive equipment, and other skills to facilitate home and work adjustment to disability.
- Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area.
- Demonstrate therapy techniques, such as manual and creative arts and games.
- Manage intradepartmental infection control and equipment security.
- Perform clerical, administrative, and secretarial duties, such as answering phones, restocking and ordering supplies, filling out paperwork, and scheduling appointments.
- Supervise patients in choosing and completing work assignments or arts and crafts projects.
- Adjust and repair assistive devices and make adaptive changes to other equipment and to environments.
- Accompany patients on outings, providing transportation when necessary.
- Assist educational specialists or clinical psychologists in administering situational or diagnostic tests to measure client's abilities or progress.
Technology Skills
Technology
Example
Hot Technology
Tools Used
Tool
Example
Top 10 Knowledge Required
Therapy and Counseling
88%
Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
English Language
84%
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Customer and Personal Service
82%
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology
77%
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Computers and Electronics
74%
Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Education and Training
72%
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Medicine and Dentistry
66%
Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Public Safety and Security
63%
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Administrative
60%
Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Administration and Management
54%
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Top 10 Skills
Service Orientation
75%
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness
73%
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking
73%
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening
70%
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Coordination
68%
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking
65%
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring
65%
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Complex Problem Solving
63%
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Reading Comprehension
63%
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Writing
63%
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Top 10 Abilities
Oral Comprehension
75%
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity
75%
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Expression
70%
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning
65%
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Speech Clarity
65%
The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition
65%
The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Information Ordering
63%
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Written Comprehension
63%
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression
63%
The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Category Flexibility
60%
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Top 10 Work Activities
Assisting and Caring for Others
97%
Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
91%
Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
88%
Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Performing General Physical Activities
87%
Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
Getting Information
85%
Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
83%
Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
81%
Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
79%
Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others
79%
Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Training and Teaching Others
79%
Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Detailed Work Activities
- Encourage patients during therapeutic activities.
- Prepare medical reports or documents.
- Communicate patient status to other health practitioners.
- Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
- Record vital statistics or other health information.
- Maintain medical records.
- Prepare patient treatment areas for use.
- Maintain medical equipment or instruments.
- Inventory medical supplies or equipment.
- Move patients to or from treatment areas.
- Teach basic living or other adaptive skills to patients or caregivers.
- Teach medical procedures or medical equipment use to patients.
- Implement therapeutic programs to improve patient functioning.
- Teach medical procedures to healthcare personnel.
- Monitor work areas or procedures to ensure compliance with safety procedures.
- Manage control system activities in organizations.
- Schedule patient procedures or appointments.
- Stock medical or patient care supplies.
- Perform clerical work in medical settings.
- Engage patients in exercises or activities.
- Administer screening tests to determine abilities or treatment needs.
- Accompany patients or clients on outings to provide assistance.
Education
Interests
Social
86%
Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.
Realistic
56%
Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.
Conventional
54%
Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.
Investigative
37%
Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.
Enterprising
26%
Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.
Artistic
25%
Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.
Work Values
Relationships
72%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
Support
72%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.
Achievement
67%
Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
Independence
67%
Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
Working Conditions
55%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.
Recognition
39%
Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status.