Community-Based Occupational Therapy for Adults With Disabilities Open Access

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

1. To determine the value and roles of occupational therapy in community-based settings with adults with disabilities.

2. To determine how administration and direct support staff perceive the role of occupational therapy (OT) in a community-based setting.

RATIONALE: The value of occupation for health and well-being are foundational to our practice, but our viewpoint is not well recognized within the realm of community health (Moll et al., 2013). According to the American Occupational Therapy Association (2010), approximately 102,500 occupational therapists currently practice in the workforce, and only 4.3% of them are employed in community-based settings. The reason OT practitioners are not working for community agencies could be twofold: either practitioners are not choosing to practice in the community or community agencies do not understand the role an occupational therapist can play in their agency. There is a need for increased evidence, ideas, and perspectives of occupational therapists to be more readily available to the general public and policymakers to link occupation, health, and well-being.

DESIGN: A qualitative content analysis approach was used to understand the perspective of community agency employees regarding OT services.

PARTICIPANTS: Eleven participants were recruited from two community-based organizations supporting adults with disabilities where OT services were piloted. Participants had either an administrative role or a direct care role at the organizations.

METHOD: One researcher interviewed all participants and transcribed the interviews verbatim.

ANALYSIS: A conventional content analysis approach was used to allow themes to emerge straight from the interview transcripts. One researcher coded all interviews, and another researcher provided reliability coding for 40% of interview data. The researchers defined and redefined codes into themes that emerged from the data until 80% reliability was reached.

RESULTS: The results indicated four main themes: New Approach, Change in Focus, Align With Mission, and Developing a Shared Understanding. These themes represented current perceptions of OT’s involvement at both organizations. For example, both agencies highlighted OT’s unique approach to assessment and intervention in the Change In Focus theme.

DISCUSSION: This research highlights the contribution OT can make to community-based organizations. The variety of roles served indicated versatility in the usage of OT within community-based settings. Overall, organizations discovered new ideas, perspectives, and strategies because of the knowledge base of OT. Therapists can use this research to understand how OT can fit into community agencies and advocate for OT involvement in the community.

IMPACT STATEMENT: To further expand OT, it is imperative to advocate for the value and emerging role of OT within community-based settings. Our findings demonstrate the value of OT and the versatility in roles OT may serve in community organizations. The alignment of the OT profession within the community aids in creating a powerful team for organizations to work toward a common goal of community inclusion for adults with disabilities.

References

American Occupational Therapy Association. (2010). Your career in occupational therapy: Workforce trends in occupational therapy. Retrieved from http://www.aota.org/-/media/Corporate/Files/EducationCareers/Prospective/Workforce-trends-in-OT.PDF

Moll, S. E., Gewurtz, R. E., Krupa, T. M., & Law, M. C. (2013). Promoting an occupational perspective in public health/Promouvoir une perspective occupationnelle dans le domaine de la santé publique. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 80, 111–119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0008417413482271