Occupational therapy is frequently misunderstood as being narrowly focused on hand or arm rehabilitation, when in reality it addresses a much broader range of functional challenges affecting daily independence across all age groups. For adults recovering from injury or surgery, occupational therapy focuses on regaining the ability to perform everyday tasks — dressing, cooking, driving — rather than isolated muscle strength alone, distinguishing it from the more targeted focus of physiotherapy. For children, occupational therapy commonly addresses sensory processing difficulties, fine motor skill development, and challenges with tasks like handwriting or using utensils, often integrated with play-based therapeutic activities. Older adults benefit significantly from occupational therapy focused on maintaining independence and preventing falls, including home safety assessments that identify modifications reducing injury risk in daily living spaces. A good occupational therapist conducts a functional assessment specific to an individual's actual daily challenges, rather than applying a generic exercise programme, since the goal throughout is restoring or building practical independence in real-world tasks rather than addressing an isolated physical limitation in the abstract.