Occupational therapists and occupational therapy (OT) assistants at NYU Langone Health are finding themselves working on the front line of this pandemic to help patients recover from COVID-19. Occupational therapy practitioners work with people of all ages to facilitate participation in everyday living.

Megan Evangelist, MS, OTR/L, clinical specialist for the Acute Care Occupational Therapy Department at NYU Langone Health’s main campus, specializes in rehabilitation of the medically complex and critical care patient. Her specialty areas of interest include Disorders of Consciousness, Delirium, and Face Transplant.

With family unable to visit during the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational therapy professionals have not only assisted with the mental challenges of occupational deprivation and social isolation, they have also served as points of familiarity for the patients admitted to intensive care units, as well as helping some of those patients resume everyday living when recovering after ventilation.