For a year now, International Falls native Meghann Cassibo has been the first full-time occupational therapist at Littlefork Medical Center.

Since April also is occupational therapy month, she said she wanted to take the time to reach out to the public and explain what the profession is and what they do on a daily basis.

So why does that matter?

And what does an occupational therapist do?

It means that the rural medical center will have a team on hand to help people of all ages recover and adjust to life after major surgery, a traumatic health problem or some other kind of severe diagnosis or disabling event.

“I get asked that all the time,” said Cassibo, of the OT question. “People know that a physical therapist, for instance, helps someone learn to walk again after an accident and surgery. An occupational therapist would, let's say, help someone coming back from a hip surgery learn how to put their socks on when the doctor told them they can't bend to a 90-degree angle.

“For someone living in terrible pain, just getting dressed is a huge and exhausting undertaking. If I can help them adapt to achieve daily tasks that we take for granted easier, get them out of the way faster, then they can go and enjoy their lives more,” the College of St. Scholastica graduate said of the profession she called very satisfying.

Previously, Littlefork Medical Center contracted out for an occupational therapist. She said it's difficult to find people in her profession willing to live in a rural setting, and some Littlefork residents either don't want to or don't have the means to travel to the Falls, where there are other occupational therapists.

Cassibo said she was proud to be able to be part of a team with physical therapist Heather Juen in Littlefork, a town of about 650 residents. She works at both the medical clinic and care center, she said.

“It was important for me to come back here, and when I was looking into places to go, I had a desire to come back home. This is more meaningful for me, personally,” Cassibo said.

One of the wonderful challenges of her job, she said, is not only working with different clients but also having to overcome “exciting and interesting” differences even if people two people had the same surgery. Cassibo said each person's recovery obstacles and how they handle them can be unique.

And the settings and issues can vary too including hospitals, schools, inpatient, outpatient, mental health, hand therapy, pediatrics, home care and a private practice.

So she must find a way to help them adapt, sometimes using physical tools as well as understand their problems as they work together to find a way to overcome these hurdles, Cassibo said.

“It's always a learning experience,” she said.

Cassibo also wrote in an accompanying piece to say that occupational therapy is an evidence-based profession that promotes health and independence in daily activities regardless of injury, disease, or disability.

“Occupational therapists work closely with patients in order to develop and implement a plan of treatment that will allow them to reach their goals,” she wrote. “Occupational therapists specialize in adapting environments and tasks to allow the individual to accomplish those occupations that are most important to them.”

Here are some of the services she provides:

  • Training and education related to activities of daily living.
  • Physical agent modalities including hot packs, cold packs, ultrasound, and iontophoresis
  • Upper extremity rehabilitation including the elbow, wrist, and hand
  • Adapted equipment training and education
  • Home modification
  • Pediatric services including fine motor and gross motor delays

For more information, call Cassibo at 278-6634 ext. 131.