The act and art of creating a delicious meal accompanied by our favorite glass of wine is something most of us take for granted. We choose the recipe from a cookbook or our favorite website, gather the ingredients at the grocery store, and come home for an evening of preparation. We sip a glass of wine as we prepare our food and bring our creation to the table when it’s complete.
During the process of making and enjoying our food and wine, it’s unlikely that we think about the fine motor skills that are required in each of those steps.
I recently read an article from an occupational therapy schools graduate, Estelle, who uses cooking as a therapeutic tool with her occupational therapy patients. There are so many different skills and types of movement that are involved in cooking: chopping, slicing, opening, removing, stirring. All of these little details can help train and retrain occupational therapy patients in all sorts of movements. Consider an automobile accident patient who fractured his arm; cooking can help him use muscles that will help him regain mobility and strength. Cooking can also be used as a fun and tasty motivator to a child with a learning disability. There’s nothing better than getting to enjoy the fruits of your labor!
The simple movement of picking up and gripping a wine glass or a salad plate can also help patients relearn movements that they may have lost. Not only that, but cooking is emotionally therapeutic to many. If you’re an occupational therapist, consider adding meal preparation to your therapeutic offerings. It’s an enjoyable task for both therapists and patients alike.
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