Early Career Occupational Therapists' Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Occupational therapists entering the clinical workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced levels of uncertainty and stress. This study's aim was to explore the clinical experiences and concerns of early-career occupational therapists entering the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 27). We administered an open-ended online survey and analyzed the data using inductive thematic analysis. Resulting themes included: safety, exposure, and transmission; implementation and enforcement of safety protocols; quality of care; and impact of the pandemic on overall health highlighting the issues that need to be addressed to be more prepared for future practice in an evolving environment.

"This Is Going to Affect People in More Ways Than One ... Even After It's Over": Perceptions of Recent Graduates of the Impact of COVID-19

Date Presented 04/02/2022 In the wake of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), practitioners, educators, and students had to shift to virtual interactions while experiencing significant unknowns and valid fears. How prepared are new graduates to enter a health care climate in a pandemic? This presentation describes the findings from semistructured individual interviews of nine recent graduates of OT graduate programs to explore their perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on their future delivery of OT interventions. Primary Author and Speaker: Laura Vanpuymbrouck Contributing Authors: Carli Friedman

Telehealth Use By Persons with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Telehealth use rapidly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding if, and how, persons with disabilities (PWDS) used telehealth during the pandemic is vital to assuring that this evolving and increasingly common form of health care is equitably developed and delivered to avoid reproducing the health disparities PWDS already face. Our aim was to explore the use of telehealth among PWDS during the pandemic. We conducted a weighted secondary analysis of United States Census Bureau data (April-July 2021) from 38,512 (unweighted) PWDS. Our findings revealed 39.8% of PWDS used telehealth during the second year of the pandemic, ranging from 34.5% of persons with hearing disabilities to 43.3% of persons with mobility disabilities. There were also differences in telehealth use based on sociodemographics. Telehealth promises to open doors to more equitable health care access for many PWDS, but only if access barriers are removed.