Occupational Therapy in Spanish

What does occupational therapy help with?

Medicare describes occupational therapy as therapy to help you perform activities of daily living, and gives dressing and bathing as examples. MedlinePlus gives a similar example for rehabilitation in general: a person who has had a stroke may need rehabilitation to be able to dress or bathe without help. MedlinePlus says the overall goal of rehabilitation is to help you get your abilities back and regain independence.

Who provides it, and where?

The National Cancer Institute's Spanish dictionary describes the occupational therapist as a health professional trained to help people who are ill or disabled carry out their activities of daily living. MedlinePlus says that in rehabilitation you often have a team of different health care providers who work with you to figure out your needs, goals, and treatment plan. Depending on your needs, rehabilitation may take place in the providers' offices, a hospital, or an inpatient rehabilitation center, and in some cases a provider may come to your home.

What it means

Occupational therapy is therapy to help a person perform activities of daily living, such as dressing or bathing. MedlinePlus lists it among the treatments that may be part of a rehabilitation plan, as occupational therapy to help you with your daily activities, alongside physical therapy to help strength, mobility, and fitness and speech-language therapy to help with speaking, understanding, reading, writing, and swallowing. Rehabilitation itself is care that can help a person get back, keep, or improve abilities needed for daily life. Medicare says a person can get occupational therapy to help improve or maintain current capabilities, or slow the rate of decline, and that Medicare Part B helps pay for medically necessary outpatient occupational therapy when a doctor or other health care provider certifies the need.

Spanish term: Terapia ocupacional
Gender and article: feminine: la terapia ocupacional
Pronunciation: teh-RAH-pyah oh-koo-pah-syoh-NAHL

Terapia ocupacional is the term on MedlinePlus en español, which lists terapia ocupacional para ayudarle con sus actividades diarias among rehabilitation treatments, and on Medicare's Spanish site, whose page is titled Servicios de terapia ocupacional. Terapia is feminine, as in Medicare's esta terapia. Medicare's Spanish page renders activities of daily living as actividades de la vida diaria, with the examples vestirse o bañarse (dressing or bathing).

For the professional, the National Cancer Institute's Spanish dictionary has the headword ergoterapeuta and adds that this person is also called terapeuta ocupacional. Neighboring terms on the MedlinePlus en español rehabilitation page are terapia física (physical therapy), terapia del habla y lenguaje (speech-language therapy) and aparatos de asistencia (assistive devices). Medicare's Spanish page calls outpatient therapy servicios de terapia para paciente ambulatorio and says that a doctor or other provider debe certificar que usted necesita este cuidado.

Phrases for an appointment

What a patient or a clinician might say, in English and Spanish:

Who	English	Spanish
Clinician	I am referring you to occupational therapy to help you with your daily activities.	Voy a remitirle a terapia ocupacional para ayudarle con sus actividades diarias.
Patient	What is the difference between occupational therapy and physical therapy?	¿Cuál es la diferencia entre la terapia ocupacional y la terapia física?
Clinician	Which daily activities are hard for you right now: dressing, bathing, cooking?	¿Qué actividades diarias le cuestan trabajo ahora: vestirse, bañarse, cocinar?
Patient	Since the stroke, I can't button my shirt or hold a spoon with my right hand.	Desde el accidente cerebrovascular, no puedo abotonarme la camisa ni sostener una cuchara con la mano derecha.
Patient	Can I have occupational therapy at home?	¿Puedo recibir terapia ocupacional en casa?
Clinician	The therapy team will work with you to set the goals of your treatment plan.	El equipo de terapia trabajará con usted para establecer las metas de su plan de tratamiento.
Patient	Does my insurance cover outpatient occupational therapy?	¿Mi seguro cubre la terapia ocupacional ambulatoria?
Patient	How many sessions a week will I need, and how long does each one last?	¿Cuántas sesiones por semana voy a necesitar, y cuánto dura cada una?

In 9 languages

Language	Term
English	Occupational Therapy
Spanish (Español)	Terapia ocupacional
Chinese (中文)	職能治療
Korean (한국어)	작업치료
Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)	Trị liệu nghề nghiệp
Filipino (Tagalog)	Occupational therapy
Portuguese (Português)	Terapia ocupacional
Thai (ภาษาไทย)	กิจกรรมบำบัด
Japanese (日本語)	作業療法

Where you'll see it

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Related terms

Your right to an interpreter in the United States

If English is not your primary language and you have difficulty communicating in English, you may need an interpreter or a translated document when you visit a doctor or dentist, go to the emergency room or pick up a prescription. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights states that two federal laws, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, require programs that receive its funding to provide language access services free of charge.

You can ask when you make the appointment or at the front desk: "I need an interpreter, please." «Necesito un intérprete, por favor.»

More terms: General care: tests, procedures and medicines

All terms in this area: General care: tests, procedures and medicines — Atención general: pruebas, procedimientos y medicamentos

Sources

This page is a language reference. It is not medical advice.