Occupational Performance Analysis Unit (OPAU)
OPAU is a not-for-profit clinical service unit of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta that provides rehabilitation services on a fee-for-service basis. Evaluation and treatment is provided by expert, experienced occupational and physical therapists.
OPAU's clinical practice encompasses four general areas:
- Functional capacities and cost of future care (medical-legal) evaluations
- Interdisciplinary rehabilitation services delivered on-site at the Kehewin First Nation
- Interdisciplinary rehabilitation for Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces
- Physical therapy for members of the public (ex. sports injuries, motor vehicle accident injuries, post-surgical, etc.)
Special projects and contracts have included:
- Community-based rehabilitation to 15 First Nations communities in the mid-1990s
- The C2C mind-body-spirit program for First Nations women incarcerated at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Institute
- The 3C Project for First Nations to assist men affected by FASD, incarcerated at the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Institute, in their transition back to the community
For Clients
OPAU believes that being able to engage in meaningful, purposeful activity ("occupations") contributes to a person's lifelong physical and mental health and well-being.
OPAU provides a range of rehabilitation-related services for people who, because of their health condition, have difficulty participating in:
- Self-care
- Leisure, recreation, and fitness
- Employment or school
- Housekeeping, parenting
- The life of their community
- Complete list of services
For Students
Occupational therapy students at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine utilize the OPAU lab to learn how to administer and interpret common work evaluation instruments. OPAU also makes its professional expertise, library, equipment and clinical data available to students who are pursuing projects or research in the areas of functional evaluation, disability management, First Nations health, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and rehabilitation of Canadian Forces Veterans.