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Prava Therapy
San Diego, California

Licensed Occupational Therapist Assistant

Occupational TherapistPart-Time

Listed compensation

$38-$40/hr

The week · per this posting

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 57m ago · Verified live

Job Description

Part-Time Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant

ActivCare Mission Bay | Mission Bay, California

Prava Therapy

  • What if your therapy session could happen when life actually happens?
  • Breakfast.
  • Getting dressed for dinner.
  • Getting ready for bed.
  • Moving safely through an evening routine.
  • Participating in the activities that make someone feel like themselves.
  • For a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, those moments are where the work comes to life.

Prava Therapy is looking for a Part-Time Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) to join our embedded therapy team at ActivCare Mission Bay.

This is an opportunity to practice occupational therapy the way it was meant to be practiced: in the context of real life.

THIS ISN'T JUST ABOUT ADLs. IT'S ABOUT LIVING.

At Prava, we don't believe therapy should be separated from the life of the resident.

If a resident is working toward greater independence with dressing, grooming, toileting, transfers, or mobility, why shouldn't therapy happen when those things actually occur?

That's why this role offers flexibility to work into the evening hours when clinically appropriate, helping residents work toward their goals during meaningful daily routines—including evening ADLs.

  • Because sometimes the best therapy session isn't an exercise.
  • It's getting ready for dinner.
  • It's safely navigating the bathroom.
  • It's managing a nighttime routine.
  • It's practicing the skills needed to participate in life with greater confidence and independence.

Your Role

As a COTA with Prava, you'll work closely with residents and the occupational therapy team to translate the plan of care into meaningful, functional progress.

You'll be part clinician, part coach, part problem solver—and an important part of the resident's daily experience.

You'll

Provide skilled occupational therapy interventions under the direction and supervision of the Occupational Therapist.

  • Help residents improve independence and participation in meaningful daily activities.
  • Address ADLs and IADLs including dressing, grooming, toileting, bathing, transfers, functional mobility, and other daily routines as appropriate.
  • Use real-life activities and the resident's environment as opportunities for therapeutic intervention.
  • Have flexibility to work into evening hours when clinically appropriate to address evening ADLs and functional goals.
  • Help residents practice skills at the time and in the environment where those skills matter most.
  • Support residents with cognitive, physical, and functional needs, including residents living with dementia.
  • Adapt activities and environments to help residents succeed.
  • Provide caregiver and community staff education to reinforce strategies outside of therapy sessions.
  • Communicate observations, progress, and changes in resident status to the supervising OT and interdisciplinary team.
  • Build meaningful relationships with residents and families.
  • Document efficiently and thoughtfully using Prava's technology and AI-enabled tools.
  • Measure progress based on meaningful functional outcomes—not simply minutes.
  • Contribute to a therapy culture that is collaborative, clinically curious, and deeply resident-centered.

We're Looking for a COTA Who GETS It.

  • You know that occupational therapy isn't just about exercises.
  • It's about occupation.
  • It's about helping someone do the things they need to do—and the things they want to do.

You Look at a Difficult ADL and Think

What is getting in the way?

What Can We Change?

  • What can we practice?
  • How can we make this resident more successful in their own environment?

You Believe

  • Every intervention should have a functional purpose.
  • The environment can be part of the solution.
  • Residents should be appropriately challenged—not underestimated.
  • Caregiver education is part of treatment.
  • Outcomes matter more than minutes.
  • Dignity and autonomy are clinical priorities.

And you're willing to meet the resident where meaningful life actually happens—even if that's later in the day.

You'll Have a Community — Not Just a Caseload.

  • At ActivCare Mission Bay, you'll have the opportunity to become part of the community you're serving.
  • You'll get to know residents beyond their diagnoses.
  • You'll understand their routines.
  • You'll recognize when something has changed.
  • You'll see how they function throughout the day.
  • And you'll have the opportunity to turn ordinary moments into therapeutic opportunities.
  • That's embedded therapy.
  • Not therapy imposed on someone's life.
  • Therapy integrated into it.

Your Clinical Expertise + Prava's Operating System

  • You bring the clinical expertise.
  • We bring the infrastructure.
  • Prava provides the technology, clinical standards, AI-enabled documentation, credentialing, billing and revenue cycle support, and operational systems that allow clinicians to focus on what matters most.
  • Exceptional resident care.

You'll have the support of a modern therapy organization while remaining connected to the residents and community you serve.

This Role Is for You If...

  • You're a COTA who loves the heart of occupational therapy.
  • You believe ADLs are more than checkboxes—they're opportunities for independence.
  • You enjoy working directly with residents and building genuine relationships.
  • You're creative and naturally look for functional solutions.
  • You enjoy working with older adults and residents living with dementia.
  • You're comfortable collaborating with OTs, PTs, nursing, caregivers, and community leadership.
  • You're willing to flex your schedule into the evening when resident goals and clinical needs call for it.
  • You want your therapy to happen in the context of real life.
  • You want to be part of a team that values clinical judgment, creativity, and resident dignity.

What Success Looks Like

  • A resident who needed help getting dressed is doing more independently.
  • A caregiver has a strategy that actually works.
  • A resident feels safer navigating their evening routine.
  • Someone who had stopped participating is back at dinner with friends.
  • And your therapy isn't something that happened to the resident.
  • It helped them do something that mattered to them.
  • That's the kind of impact we're looking for.

Ready to Practice Occupational Therapy Differently?

  • If you believe the best therapy happens where life happens— we think you'll fit right in.
  • Bring your clinical expertise.
  • Bring your creativity.
  • Bring your willingness to think differently.
  • We'll bring the operating system.
  • Come help residents keep doing the things that make life theirs.

Key Responsibilities

Provide skilled occupational therapy interventions under the supervision of an Occupational Therapist to help residents improve independence in daily activities. Collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to document progress and adapt environments to meet the functional needs of residents.

Requirements

Must be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) with a passion for resident-centered care and functional outcomes. Experience working with older adults and individuals living with dementia is highly valued.

Qualifications

Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

ADL assistanceDementia carePatient assessmentClinical documentationInterdisciplinary collaborationRehabilitationPatient coachingProblem solving

Occupational Therapist Career Context

In California, the Occupational Therapy weighted monthly median benchmark on WeekdayDoc is ~$116k (421 salary observations; 1,121 listings), vs ~$96k nationally (2,981 salary observations; 13,210 listings). Monthly aggregates cover 2026-01-01 through 2026-10-01; these are not the modal's selected comparable-job medians.

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$81k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $73k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Occupational Therapy pay on WeekdayDoc is up 1.1% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

Top OTA Jobs

4 matches · ranked by pay
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#2

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#3

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$79k-$96k
#4

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+ 2 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 4.8this job 4.8
Better work-life than 50% of Occupational Therapy Assistant listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 1,043 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

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About Prava Therapy

Software Development
11-50 employees

Benefits & Perks

Flexible schedule
AI-enabled documentation tools
Credentialing and billing support