The sound of ping pong balls echoing through the Occupational Therapy Clinic at Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital may seem like friendly competition, but behind each rally is a deliberate approach to recovery, resilience and readiness.

In recognition of Occupational Therapy Month, the clinic is hosting a month-long table tennis tournament, using the activity to highlight how occupational therapy helps patients regain the skills needed for daily life and duty.

“Occupational therapy helps people do the things they want to do, have to do and need to do,” said Capt. Carly Williams, chief of occupational therapy at BJACH.

Despite its name, OT is not limited to employment. In clinical practice, “occupations” refer to meaningful activities that occupy a person’s time—whether that is completing mission-essential tasks, caring for Families, or maintaining independence at home.

In an outpatient setting like BJACH, Williams said OT focuses on restoring strength, endurance, joint integrity and injury prevention while reinforcing Army Warrior Tasks and everyday functional skills.

For Soldiers, those activities may include handling equipment, completing mission planning tasks or carrying a full load without pain. For others, it may involve returning to work, managing a household or recovering from surgery.

“Our mission is to help patients recover so they can fully participate in the roles that matter most to them,” said 1st Lt. Quinne Johnson, an occupational therapist at BJACH. “If a full return isn’t possible, we focus on problem-solving and helping them find new ways to live their lives to the fullest.”

From activity to recovery

At BJACH, the OT team incorporates meaningful, activity-based techniques into rehabilitation to improve outcomes and keep patients engaged.

“As part of the OT team, we try to make the rehabilitation process as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for our patients,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Cobb, occupational therapy specialist and noncommissioned officer in charge of the clinic.

Cobb said the OT team tailors activities to each patient’s injury and phase of recovery, often incorporating games to build strength and coordination in a functional way.

Ping pong has become a staple for patients recovering from upper extremity injuries, including wrist and elbow conditions such as carpal tunnel or cubital tunnel syndrome, wrist injuries and scaphoid fractures.

“It challenges both fine and gross motor skills,” Cobb said. “Holding the paddle and striking the ball improves hand-eye coordination, grip strength, dexterity and range of motion, while moving around the table improves balance, reflexes and overall coordination.”

The tournament, held during lunch hours to avoid disrupting patient care, also fosters morale and teamwork across the organization while raising awareness of OT and its role in recovery and readiness among staff.

OT specialists play a critical role in supporting both providers and patients throughout the rehabilitation process.

Sgt. Kayla Lowe, an occupational therapy specialist at BJACH said her role focuses on supporting both therapists and patients throughout the recovery process.

“We support the therapists by reinforcing treatment plans and helping patients stay engaged, both in the clinic and with their exercises at home,” she said.

Lowe added that activities like the ping pong tournament provide additional benefits beyond physical rehabilitation.

“It’s a fun way to work on coordination and build confidence,” she said. “You can see the difference in morale when patients are engaged and enjoying what they’re doing.”

Building resilience through movement

Beyond physical recovery, OT also strengthens cognitive performance and resilience.

Activities like ping pong require patients to track movement, plan responses and adjust force in real time—skills that directly support both daily function and operational performance.

From a Holistic Health and Fitness perspective, these activities help build resilience by training patients to respond appropriately under pressure in a controlled, low-risk environment.

“Soldiers need to be able to track, plan and react under pressure,” Williams said. “This is a low-threat way to train those skills.”

A patient’s path to recovery

While Occupational Therapy Month is being highlighted through activities like the clinic’s ping pong tournament, the impact of OT extends far beyond the table.

For Beatrice Hurey, a supervisor in BJACH’s military human resources department, OT has played a critical role in her recovery following multiple strokes earlier this year.

Although the outpatient clinic does not typically treat stroke patients, Hurey was accepted for care due to the clinical expertise of the team.

Williams brings specialized experience in brain injury and stroke rehabilitation, including advanced training and prior work in an inpatient rehabilitation setting focused on neurological recovery.

“We work to retrain neural pathways—or create new ones—so patients can return to performing tasks they were previously able to do,” Williams said.

Hurey said OT has helped her relearn how to perform everyday tasks many people take for granted.

“It’s having my brain relearn how to operate with my arm and do the things I used to do without thinking,” she said.

After just a few weeks of therapy, she has already seen measurable progress.

“My doctor said my left arm is reacting the same as my right,” Hurey said. “Occupational therapy has been amazing.”

She said the impact goes beyond physical recovery.

“They made me feel like I mattered,” Hurey said. “Every time I come here, there’s a laugh. They give you hope that you can get back to where you were.”

That process includes rebuilding coordination, cognitive function and the ability to perform multi-step tasks—skills essential to both daily living and overall readiness.

Strength through collaboration

OT at BJACH is part of a broader, collaborative effort to support patient outcomes and readiness.

“We work closely with primary care managers, physical therapy and orthopedics to ensure a cohesive recovery plan,” Johnson said. “Our specialties complement each other to help patients return stronger, safer and ready to perform.”

That teamwork extends throughout the clinic, where providers and specialists work together to deliver patient-centered care.

“Our team is incredibly collaborative,” Johnson said. “We’re constantly learning from one another, and we all share the same goal—helping our patients succeed.”

Restoring function, rebuilding lives

For providers at BJACH, the success of OT is measured in everyday victories.

“It’s not about one big moment—it’s about the small ones,” Johnson said. “When a patient can carry their child again, get dressed independently or return to training without pain—those are the wins that matter.”

At BJACH, OT is more than rehabilitation—it is a pathway to restoring independence, rebuilding confidence and ensuring patients can return to the activities that matter most.