Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy services at Danat Al Emarat Hospital within neonatal settings are focused on providing comprehensive services, including screening, evaluation, treatment, education, decision
making, family support, and discharge planning. It may also include early intervention services.

The occupational therapist in the NICU provide the following:

• Screening the high-risk infant
• Improving the sensory and fine motor developmental of the high-risk infant
• Supporting the parent-infant relationship and ensuring a successful transition from hospital to home and community.
• Contributing to the provision and promotion of developmentally supportive care of high-risk infants.
• Minimizing the potential for harm of the neonatal unit environment (sometimes passive environment) on the infant’s developing brain.
• Supporting their growth and development in order to promote early engagement with their parents.

After discharge, ongoing outpatient services intervention and/or guidance provides continued opportunities to support the development of infant occupations around self-care, learning and play.

Through educating parents on strategies to support and engage their infant with appropriate sensory and motor experiences.

Conditions that can benefit from Occupational Therapy services include:

A. Neurological conditions:

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
• Hands and Nerves Injuries
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Memory Disorders
• Multiple Sclerosis
• All Other neurological condition that affects the performance of the client

B. After Orthotics surgery:

• Conditions related to the musculoskeletal system.

C. Pediatric-Neuro conditions, cognitive/ psychiatry conditions:

• Pediatric neuromuscular disorders including muscular dystrophy and congenital myopathies
• Developmental delay disorders
• Cerebral Palsy
• Brachial Plexus
• Childhood Stroke
• Epilepsy
• Global Developmental Delays
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder
• Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD)
• Other conditions that includes limp deformities
• ADD / ADHD
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Down Syndrome
• Fine Motor Delays
• Delayed Milestones
• Cognitive delay
• Learning difficulties (dyslexia dysgraphia and dyscalculia)