The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has presented unique challenges for occupational therapy practitioners working in acute and critical care settings. Using the best available evidence, this case report overviews a prototypical COVID-19 disease course and discusses key aspects of clinical reasoning for practitioners working with this novel population. Following a single patient admitted to a tertiary academic medical center, the authors review the occupational profile and medical history, common impairments, the intervention plan, and strategies to align the occupational therapy and medical goals of care.

The investment of time and self to develop therapeutic relationships with clients appears incongruent with today’s time-constrained health care system, yet bridging the gap of these incongruencies is the challenge therapists face to provide high-quality, client-centered, occupation-based treatment. This case report illustrates a shift in approach from biomechanical to occupational adaptation (OA) in an orthopedic outpatient clinic. The progress of a client with lupus-related arthritis who was 6 days postsurgery is documented. The intervention initially used a biomechanical frame of reference, but when little progress had been made at 10 weeks after surgery, a shift was made to the more client-centered OA approach. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure was administered, and an OA approach was initiated. On reassessment, clinically important improvements were documented in all functional tasks addressed. An OA approach provides the bridge between the application of clinical expertise, client-centered, occupation-based therapy and the time constraints placed by payer sources.

The study of 61 hand-injured subjects suggested that it is more than surgical and technical excellence that facilitates the return-to-work status among the hand-injured wage earners. Financial need, level of activities of daily living, and participation in occupational therapy were found to be directly related to return-to-work status. Additional findings indicated no difference between the rate of return to work for those whose injuries affected their dominant hand over those who had nondominant hand injures. The amount of medical care needed and whether it was delivered as an outpatient or an inpatient were not associated with the return to work. The hand-injured subjects’ relevant medical history, participation in occupational therapy, capacity in activities of daily living, desire and ability to return to work, and financial support were quantified through chart audit and interview. Occupational development was measured by using the Moorhead Occupational Work History.