Occupational Therapy, often abbreviated as "OT", incorporates meaningful and purposeful occupation to enable people with limitations or impairments to participate in everyday life. Occupational therapists work with individuals, families, groups and populations to facilitate health and well-being through engagement or re-engagement in occupation. Occupational therapists are becoming increasingly involved in addressing the impact of social and environmental factors that contribute to exclusion and occupational deprivation.

There are many areas of practice in occupational therapy which have often been divided into Physical Health and Mental Health. The division is not so clear as occupational therapists consider the physical, mental and social well-being of all clients in every setting. These divisions occur when the setting is defined by the population it serves for example acute physical or mental health settings (e.g.: hospitals), sub-acute settings (e.g.: aged care facilities), outpatient clinics and community settings.What is hand therapy? Hand therapy helps a patient regain maximum use of his or her hand after injury, surgery or the onset of disease. Treatment is provided by a hand therapist, someone who is first trained as an occupational or physical therapist and then receives additional training in hand therapy.

Hand therapists teach exercises, apply modalities and create custom splints to help the hand heal and protect it from additional injury.