I’ve asked multiple people and have never gotten a clear answer. They’re always consulted together in the hospital, but I’m sure they have different responsibilities.
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The physical therapist is for your body. Think things like muscles, exercises etc
The occupational therapist is for your surroundings. Think things like adaptations to your home, hand rails, eating implements. Making your life easier.
PTs help with movement, flexibility, and strength in general. Their focus is getting the physical aspects of the patient in as good of shape as possible.
OTs help with specific tasks. Like PTs, OTs can work on movement, flexibility, and strength to make the tasks possible. But they can also help with workarounds or alternative ways to do *something* that the patient wants to do. They’re more task oriented – the goal is to have the patient be able to do what they want to do.
Classic example is wrist damage. The patient wants to be able to write again. Both the PT and OT will offer some exercises to restore wrist and finger strength and fine-motor skills, but the OT might also propose different ways to hold a pen or different unconventional pens the patient can use.
My friend is an OT. She says it’s largely getting patients adapted to their new reality, where a PT would work on their recovery.
As a side note, she once had a roommate who was an archivist. They bonded over people not understanding their jobs.
I was once told by a physio that the difference between physiotherapists and occupational therapists was the length of the finger.
Occupational therapists aim for you to be able to touch the tip of your thumb to the top of your finger so you can use your hand functionally.
Physiotherapists’ goal is for you to touch the base of your finger i.e. a full range of movement.
This was probably 30+ years ago though but it was told to me as a child.
Hand therapy falls under occupational hand therapists – most CHT’s (certified hand therapists) are OTs. So any injury rehab from elbow to fingertips, and also for some brachial plexus/peripheral nerve injuries
A PT would help you heal your leg. An occupational therapist would help you learn to live with an injured leg.
PTs get paid by health insurance. OTs get paid by workers’ comp.
Anyway, that’s my sister’s cynical view. She’s a professor of OT.
Let’s imagine you have a favorite toy that you want to play with:
A physical therapist is like a helper who teaches you how to move your body better so you can reach and grab your toy. They might show you fun exercises to make your arms and legs stronger.
An occupational therapist is like a helper who teaches you how to do everyday things, like putting on your shoes or eating with a spoon. They might show you easier ways to play with your toy or help you learn to write your name.
Both helpers want you to be able to do the things you enjoy, but they focus on different parts of helping you!
The simplest way to compare is this…
PT addresses physical impairment.
OT addresses functional impairment.
Is there a lot of overlap between those types of impairments? Yes, many physical impairments are directly linked to functional impairments.
Do they have different roles in treating the same patient if their physical and functional impairments are directly linked? Yes, reconciling the difference in theoretical approach (physical vs functional) and the overlap in real-world application has led OTs and PTs to focus on different skills and niches. Some skills are exclusive to one profession, many skills trend strongly towards one profession over the other but are not *exclusive* per se, and some skills have fairly even distribution between both professions.
I’ll address the hospital part of your question specifically, too. Many patients will require both PT/OT, who will collaborate on different treatment goals based on their general scope of practice and specific role on the team. Also, many physicians and nurses often blindly order “OT/PT” because they are too lazy to figure out the most appropriate referral or too ignorant to know the difference.
An OT once told me that a PT will help you relearn how to walk and an OT will help you relearn how to cross the street.
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