Occupational Adaptation as a Model for Intervention in Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) often presents with chronic symptoms and impacts a wide variety of areas of occupation, including activities of daily living, sleep, work, school, leisure, play, and social participation. The Occupational Adaptation theory supports practitioners in offering clients opportunities to develop internal adaptive processes to achieve relative mastery in desired occupations. The present manuscript provides a foundation for Occupational Adaptation theory as an appropriate model for intervention in POTS with specific assessments and interventions to guide occupational therapy practitioners in implementing this approach. A case study describes the use of Occupational Adaptation in the clinical intervention of a college student with POTS.