Licensed Occupational Therapist Assistant

Prava Therapy • Chula Vista, CA

18h

About The Position

Prava is seeking a part-time Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) to provide meaningful, occupation-based therapy to residents living with dementia in Memory Care communities. The position emphasizes adapting interventions to each resident’s abilities, routines, environment, and needs, with particular interest in evening activities of daily living (ADL) intervention. Therapy may take place as residents dress for dinner, groom, toilet, transition into the evening, prepare for bed, and participate in familiar routines and meaningful activities.

The COTA will work alongside the OT team and provide care within the plan of care and the assistant’s scope. The approach is person-centered: identifying what may make a task difficult, adapting the environment or routine, and using appropriate cues and strategies to support participation, independence, and dignity. The role includes building relationships with residents and partnering with caregivers and community staff to support carryover.

Requirements

• Be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA).
• Love working with older adults living with dementia.
• Believe occupation is at the center of occupational therapy.
• Understand the importance of routine, environment, and meaningful engagement.
• Be interested in real-world ADL training.
• Be patient, creative, observant, and adaptable.
• Build relationships naturally.
• Believe dignity should not be sacrificed for efficiency.
• Want to practice creatively and clinically.

Nice To Haves

• Interest in evening ADL intervention.
• Does not believe every therapy session needs to happen in a therapy room.

Responsibilities

• Provide ADL and IADL intervention within the plan of care.
• Incorporate therapy into residents’ real evening routines.
• Support dressing, grooming, toileting, positioning, mobility-related ADLs, and other meaningful occupations within scope.
• Use cueing, sequencing, environmental modification, and compensatory strategies to support participation.
• Identify environmental barriers to successful engagement.
• Support residents in maintaining familiar routines and meaningful roles.
• Partner with caregivers and community staff to improve carryover.
• Help preserve residents’ independence and dignity.
• Build relationships with residents and learn about the person behind the diagnosis.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed