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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In my family, we have a DPT who helps with healing your body, recovery of muscles, joints, etc. to correct issues to reduce or eliminate pain, and a OTD who helps you learn (or relearn) how to live your life, do the daily, essential tasks you must do, etc., whether after an injury or congenital condition (and no, an occupational therapist doesn’t help you find a job – a query she’s fielded too many times)
It can be hard to get an answer to this because OTs and PTs both work in a really broad array of settings, and often these are not at all similar. I am an OT working primarily with children, but there are OTs working with older adults, in mental health, in acute care, in prisons, with people experiencing poverty, etc.
Occupational therapy: think of “occupation” as a task that “occupies” your time. This can include getting dressed, brushing your teeth, painting a picture, cooking a meal, writing an essay, driving, etc. If you are disabled, injured, ill, or in some way unable to do what matters to you, OT can help. Maybe you need to improve your balance and coordination (PT can do this too). Maybe you need to develop your social skills (something speech-language pathologists may also address). Perhaps you need to learn to use adaptive equipment (wheelchair, reacher, shoes with zippers instead of laces, etc.) Or maybe a change in the environment could help (which could mean advocating for accomodations at work/school, putting up visual supports at home, etc.) Finding a way to support participation in what you want and need to do is the goal.
Physical therapy focuses on ensuring your body systems are working together in a way that is safe and functional. That might mean addressing balance and coordination, safely navigating a variety of surfaces (e.g. uneven floors, stairs), improving postural control, building strength/endurance/flexibility, transferring from one surface to another (e.g. wheelchair to tub, chair to stand), etc.
In my setting with kids, I primarily work on developing motor skills (e.g. grasping toys, throwing a ball, sitting without falling over), self-care (dressing, etc.), executive function (basically using your brain in an organized way), and managing sensory needs and emotional regulation. But I used to work in home health with older adults, and we primarily addressed transferring between surfaces (chair, tub, toilet, etc.), dressing, functional balance during daily tasks, caregiver training (esp. with dementia where new learning is difficult), using adaptive equipment, etc.
Pt helps your body work. OT helps your life work or to adapt your life so it doesn’t hurt your body. OT might help with more applied and personalized skills, for example being consulted when someone gets a new wheelchair to see how they can best move between that exact wheelchair to their exact bed with their exact disabilities.
In a SNF we like to say that “PT makes sure you can walk; OT makes sure you do it while wearing pants.”
At my skilled nursing facility, the unwritten rule is OT does uppers and PT does lowers, but PT essentially works on strengthening your body and getting places whereas OT is about using things in your environment.
My mom broke her hip. She has a PT helping her to exercises to get strength and flexibility back. She had an OT come visit her apartment to see how she did things to help work with her injury.
My own experience example after knee replacement: The OT taught me how to move safely while I had limited mobility and strength. How to stand from a seated position, which leg to lead with while walking up or down stairs on crutches, etc. The PT focused on stretches and exercises to rebuild my mobility and strength for a faster and more complete recovery. OT helps to accommodate a limitation/impairment, PT helps to recover or overcome the limitation/impairment.
How my OT explained it: PT is everything else but the hands, and OT is hands only. That top response really says the specifics but that’s how I remembered. Since many people use their hands to do and complete tasks, it makes sense for that to be a completely type of therapy and they offer guidance on how to work smarter, and not harder. (And know many devices and utensils that will help with that, like adaptive equipment making it easier to grasp items that uses less muscle strength) Though I wonder if those who have no arms and do tasks with their legs what kinda therapy that would fall under?
Occupational therapy is from the elbows to the hands from what my doctor told me since his medical group doesn’t offer occupational therapy.
Someone I know who just got an OT doctorate said it deals with how you occupy yourself with whatever activities you do and how your injury/disability affects those activities we take for granted and how you have to adapt to do those tasks you’ve done before without having to think about it.
From my understanding, physical therapists primarily focus on improving mobility and strength while occupational therapists focus on improving daily activities and functional skills. Both play important roles in rehabilitation and recovery.
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