Parents of children with disabilities have been urged to engage the services of Occupational Therapists (OTs) at the early stages of their children to improve their functional outcomes.
According to the President of the Occupational Therapy Association of Ghana, Madam Ann Sena Fordie, persons with varied disabilities are able to maximize their functional potentials with support services like occupational therapy.
Occupational therapy is a branch of health care that helps people who have physical, sensory, or cognitive problems. OT can help them regain independence in all areas of their lives. Occupational therapists help with barriers that affect a person’s emotional, social, and physical needs.
Madam Sena Fordie intimated that, most parents are not afforded with information on occupational therapy and its benefits to their wards hence limiting their functional outcomes.
She explained that, the human brain has the ability to change and adapt to experience, and if affected parts of the body are not trained or introduced to skills to keep them active, the brain function reduces, creating dysfunction.
In an interview with DisabilityNewsGH.com on the sidelines of a forum in Accra recently, Madam Sena Fordie asserted that the low patronage of their services was as a result of low awareness about the role of Occupational Therapists. That, she said, has led to people flying their relatives abroad for treatment when they could get the same services here in the country.
Madam Sena Fordie called on people who have relatives with stroke, autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, mental health conditions, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and accident victims to approach them for help.
She threw also an invitation to the Ministries of Health, Education, Social Protection, Transport, Works and Housing, as well as the West Africa Examination Council for collaboration to work towards achieving an inclusive Ghanaian society.
Ghana’s first group of Occupational Therapists graduated in 2016. Since then, more are trained annually to work in the health and educational sectors. But they lamented that many do not know about them and are, therefore, not getting the needed attention and support to impact the country.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com