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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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.
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