Licensed Occupational Therapist Assistant

Prava Therapy; Poway (CA); On-site; USD 34,000 - 48,000; Part time

Job summary

Prava Therapy in Poway, CA is seeking a Part-Time Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant to bring meaningful, occupation-based therapy into Memory Care communities. The role emphasizes evenings and real-life routines, aligning therapy with residents’ daily lives and familiar tasks.

You will adapt activities to the person, collaborate with caregivers, and support independence in meaningful ways. Join a team that believes dementia care should start with the person, not the diagnosis, and that

Qualifications

• Must hold valid COTA certification and be licensed in California.
• Experience with dementia or memory care preferred.
• Comfort with evening ADL-focused sessions.

Responsibilities

• Provide ADL and IADL intervention within the plan of care
• Incorporate therapy into real evening routines
• Support dressing, grooming, toileting, positioning, mobility-related ADLs, and other meaningful occupations within your 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 independence and dignity-even when independence looks different than it used to
• Build relationships with residents and learn the person behind the diagnosis

Skills

ADL support

IADL support

Dementia care

Memory care

Evening care

Caregiver collaboration

Education

Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA)

Job description

Part-Time COTA | Memory Care | Come Practice OT Where Life Happens
Memory Care | Part-Time
The best OT session might not look like a therapy session.
It might look like getting dressed for dinner.
Finding the dining room.
Brushing your teeth.
Participating in an activity.
Navigating a familiar routine.
Helping someone successfully complete something they've done their entire life.
That's where OT belongs.
At Prava, we're looking for a Part-Time Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant who wants to bring meaningful, occupation-based therapy into Memory Care communities.
And we're looking for someone who understands that when you're working with someone living with dementia, the environment, the routine, and the way we approach the person can matter just as much as the intervention itself.
We don't just work bankers' hours.
Because residents don't live bankers' hours.
For this position, we're particularly interested in a COTA who sees the value of evening ADL intervention.
Why?
Because that's when real life happens.
Getting ready for dinner.
Dressing.
Grooming.
Toileting.
Positioning.
Transitioning into the evening.
Preparing for bed.
These aren't just tasks.
They're occupations.
And they can be incredibly meaningful therapy opportunities.
We don't expect the resident to fit the therapy.
We adapt the therapy to the resident.
Someone with dementia may not be able to tell you what is making a task difficult.
That doesn't mean there isn't a reason.
Maybe the environment is overwhelming.
Maybe the routine has changed.
Maybe the instructions are too complicated.
Maybe the task needs to be broken down differently.
Maybe the resident needs a familiar cue.
Maybe we need to change our approach , not ask the resident to try harder.
That's where great OT comes in.

• Provide ADL and IADL intervention within the plan of care

• Incorporate therapy into real evening routines

• Support dressing, grooming, toileting, positioning, mobility-related ADLs, and other meaningful occupations within your 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 independence and dignity-even when independence looks different than it used to

• Build relationships with residents and learn the person behind the diagnosis

We believe dementia care should start with the person.
Not the diagnosis.
Not the behavior.
Not the impairment.
The person.
What did they love to do?
What routines are familiar?
What makes them feel successful?
What