Foundational Concepts of Occupational Therapy

Flashcards covering key concepts from Occupational Therapy foundational concepts, including kinesiology, biomechanics, and anatomy.

Occupations

Everyday activities that people do to bring meaning and purpose to life, such as ADLs, IADLs, rest and sleep, education, work, play, leisure, health management, and social participation.

Occupational performance

Completing meaningful activities by a person, group, or population.

Performance skills

Skills essential for doing activities: motor, process, and social interaction.

Motor skills

Actions involving reaching, stabilizing, manipulating, and walking, contributing to occupational performance.

Process skills

Cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial functions essential for occupational performance, such as navigating and organizing.

Social interaction skills

Skills related to speaking and other social interactions that support occupational performance.

Functional anatomy

Underlying body structures that contribute to movements involved in daily function and motor performance skills.

Functional mobility

Moving from one position or place to another, such as changing positions in bed, transferring, or walking.

Purposeful movement

Emphasizes the meaning behind the motion, recognizing movement as an outflow of individual volition or will.

Performance patterns

Habits, routines, roles, and rituals that affect occupational performance.

Activity analysis

Identifies performance skills and patterns that facilitate or inhibit occupational performance.

Anatomical position

Standing upright with feet apart, head forward, and arms at sides with palms forward.

Posterior

Back or dorsal.

Anterior

Front, volar, or ventral.

Medial and lateral

Closer to or farther from the midline.

Proximal and distal

Relative position to the trunk.

Radial and ulnar

Relative position on the forearm, wrist, and hand.

Superior

Above.

Inferior

Below.

Cranial

Direction of the skull.

Caudal

Beneath or toward the tail.

Ipsilateral

Same side of the body.

Contralateral

Opposite side of the body.

Origin

Attachment that moves the least; usually proximal.

Insertion

More movable attachment; usually distal.

Palpation

Use of physical touch to identify structures.

Surface anatomy

Features that are palpable or visible on the surface of the skin.

Bony landmark

Component of bone that protrudes beneath the skin.

Kinesiology

The study of anatomy and mechanics in relation to human movement.

Sagittal plane

Divides the body into right and left sides, with the midsagittal plane in the center of the body.

Frontal plane

Divides the body into anterior and posterior portions.

Transverse plane

Divides the body into inferior and superior portions.

Axis of motion

Joint's center of rotation.

Frontal axis

Medial to lateral axis.

Sagittal axis

Anterior to posterior axis.

Vertical axis

Inferior to superior axis.

Closed-chain movement

Movement where proximal joints move relative to a fixed distal segment.

Open-chain movement

Distal segment moves freely, joints move together or independently.

Force

Any push or pull of matter.

Tensile force

Pulling force.

Compressive force

Pushing force.

Moment

Turning effect of force; ability to rotate an object around an axis.

Action

Specific motion a muscle can generate at a joint; synonymous with moment.

Moment arm

Distance from a joint to the muscle.

Mechanical advantage

Leverage.

Levers

Pulley systems that provide mechanical advantage and generate functional motion.

First-class lever

Exerted force and resistive force are on opposite sides of the axis.

Second-class lever

Resistive force is closer to the axis than the exerted force and on the same side.

Third-class lever

Most common in the human body; allows for higher-velocity movements.

Joint reaction force

Force generated within the joint in response to external forces acting upon it.

Stress

Amount of applied force per area.

Strain

Amount of material displacement under a specific amount of stress.

Elasticity

The ability to stretch and return to the original shape.

Young’s modulus

Stiffness of a material.

Elastic deformation

Ability to return to normal shape after strain.

Yield point

Maximum stress that can be sustained before tissue failure.

Plastic deformation

Permanent deformation of tissue but retains continuity.

Biomechanics

Examines the structure, function, and motion of the biological systems that make up a living organism.

Cortical bone

Greater mineral content than collagen; found in the shaft of long bones; provides rigid support.

Cancellous (spongy) bone

Higher collagen content; found in the marrow cavity and at the end of long bones.

Articular (hyaline) cartilage

Covers ends of long bones; dense connective tissue to absorb force between bones.

Osteoarthritis

Degeneration of cartilage within a joint.

Ligaments

Connect bone to bone; provide joint stability.

Tendons

Connect muscle to bone; transfer force.

Joint capsule

Dense fibrous sleeve around a synovial joint; provides passive stability and contains synovial fluid.

Aponeurosis

Fibrous insertion that connects adjacent muscles.

Skeletal muscle

Moves bones of the skeleton; supplies force for purposeful movement; striated with alternating bands of fibers.

Cardiac muscle

Forms muscular components of the heart (myocardium); striated and in segments.

Smooth muscle

Involuntary muscle found in internal organs; nonstriated; contracts slowly and automatically.

Histology

Microscopic study of body tissue, including its chemical composition and design.

Endomysium

Surrounds each individual muscle fiber.

Perimysium

Surrounds fascicles (groups of muscle fibers).

Epimysium

Surrounds groups of fascicles.

Myofibrils

Long cylindrical strands of contractile proteins.

Sarcomeres

Contractile units of a muscle.

Motor unit

A single motor neuron and the muscle fibers it innervates, which operates on an all-or-none principle.

Physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA)

Area of a cross-section of muscle at its widest point; proportional to muscle strength.

Pennate muscles

Fibers oriented obliquely (slanted).

Fusiform muscles

Fibers oriented parallel to the line of force.

Fascia

Noncontractile (passive) tissues within the muscle.

Flaccid muscle

Muscle with loss of innervation.

Hypertonia

Muscle with increased tone.

Muscle spindles

Elongated and encapsulated structures within muscle fibers that signal changes in muscle length and protect muscles.

Phasic stretch reflex

Activates the agonist muscle to contract if the muscle is overstretched.

Golgi tendon organs

Located at the junction of muscle and tendon; inform the brain of the force of muscle contraction and may trigger a protective reflex.

Slow-twitch fibers

Type 1 fibers; low force over a long period of time; more resistant to fatigue.

Fast-twitch fibers

Type II fibers; powerful contractions.

Motor memory

Learned patterns of motion.

Agonist muscle

Prime mover.

Antagonist muscle

Contrasting muscle.

Fixators

Provide stability at the origin.

Synergists

Muscles that assist the prime mover.

Force couple

Muscles that work together, acting in different directions to produce the same motion or stabilize a joint.

Isometric contraction

Contraction with no change in length.

Isotonic contraction

Contraction with a change in muscle length and joint motion; can be eccentric (lengthening) or concentric (shortening).

Load rate

How quickly force is applied to tissue.

Passive insufficiency

Inability of a muscle to elongate enough to allow a joint to move through its full range of motion.

Active insufficiency

Adjacent fibers are maximally shortened; muscle cannot contract further.

Joint (articulation)

The connection between two bones; can be synovial, fibrous, or cartilaginous.

Synovial joints

Mobile joints that allow purposeful movement.