Entry-level occupational therapy therapists are expected to conduct evaluations and provide interventions that are both effective and cost-efficient. To help students achieve this goal by the time of graduation, educational programs in occupational therapy provide as many learning experiences as possible for gaining technical skills in performing evaluations and interventions on clients with re...

Occupational therapists confront issues of cultural diversity more than ever before because of the increased number of clients seen in their professional practice who are of differing racial or cultural backgrounds. In this study, we examine perceived cultural competence in a sample of 477 occupational therapists. The study's results indicate that among the variables that most affected how ther...

The aim of this study was to document professional factors to be considered in implementing a provincial policy of recycling assistive technology in Quebec. A qualitative study was conducted with 22 experts from various sectors: health professionals (including occupational therapists), industry and community. They were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data collection also invo...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between work environment and the competency maintenance activities of occupational therapists. METHOD A survey of 121 occupational therapists in three states and interviews with 8 occupational therapists in Ohio were used. RESULTS Analysis of survey data indicated that workplace support and the degree of competency monitori...

OBJECTIVES We explored the clinical application of goal-directed therapy in community-based rehabilitation from the perspective of clients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), their significant others, and their treating occupational therapists. METHOD Twelve people with TBI and their significant others completed an outpatient, goal-directed, 12-week occupational therapy program. Semistructured...

Jen Gash, an occupational therapist and creativity coach living in the UK, provided the cover art for the winter 2015 issue of The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. The picture is titled “Over the Exe.” Jen uses her inspiration of the Kawa River model in this painting. The painting is of her husband and daughter standing where the river meets the sea. This is a metaphoric representation of ...

"Intraprofessional Team BUilding" in the September 1987 issue (pp. 576582) was a pertinent and stimulating article ro me. Our Psychosocial Occupational Therapy Department at Christ Hospital and Medical Center consists of seven occu pational therapists (OTRs) and nine occupational therapy assistants (COTAs) who work together on occupational therapy teams. A typical team includes one therapist as...

The need for high-quality evidence to support practice is an ongoing issue in occupational therapy. As a consequence, growing numbers of occupational therapists are engaged in both clinical practice and research activities. Therapists who find themselves in these dual roles are sometimes faced with ethical conflicts when the responsibilities of being a researcher appear, on the surface, to dive...

Although the number of occupational therapists working in mental health has dwindled, the number of people who need our services has not. In our tendency to cling to a medical model of service provision, we have allowed the scope and content of our services to be limited to what has been supported within this model. A social model that stresses functional adaptation within the community, exempl...