ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND.: Change agents' actions have been studied mainly from a theoretical perspective. PURPOSE.: This study aimed to empirically identify occupational therapists' actual change agent actions. METHOD.: As part of a research partnership with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists-Québec chapter, we conducted this cross-sectional pilot study using an online survey. FINDINGS.: The change agent practices of our 103 participants involve many types of actions but show underinvestment in mass communication. Mass communication actions are more frequent when participants have greater experience, additional academic degrees, and training in change agency. Also, occupational therapists with additional academic degrees and change agency training tend to use a wider variety of actions. Finally, our participants' actions principally target actors in the clinical context, rarely political actors. IMPLICATIONS.: Our results suggest that occupational therapists can and will invest in the full range of change agent actions provided they can acquire the necessary knowledge and skills.
Subject(s)
Occupational Therapists , Occupational Therapy , Canada , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Pilot Projects , QuebecABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: As social change agents (SCAs), occupational therapists (OTs) are expected to defend the rights of their clients, advocate for and with them, and try to influence organizational and political decision-makers. However, OTs do not generally feel equipped to take effective action. The overall goal of this research partnership is to support practising OTs in acquiring the knowledge and skills required to act as SCAs through a specific SCA training program and a toolkit that summarizes the key training points. METHODS: The study will include three iterative phases (conceptualization, implementation and evaluation) and use a participatory process. The design of the training program and toolkit will draw on the expertise of the researchers (theoretical knowledge), a professional provincial partner and study participants (experiential knowledge). To evaluate the training program and toolkit, a self-administered evaluation questionnaire, facilitator observation grid and semi-structured guide designed to facilitate focus group discussions will be used. The quantitative and qualitative data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis, respectively. The results of the initial implementation and evaluation phases will inform improvement of the training program and toolkit before starting the cycle with the following groups. DISCUSSION: In addition to training about 100 OTs, this study will produce three main benefits: 1) development of two products, namely the SCA training program and toolkit, that are easy to reuse and potentially transferable to other professionals; 2) ownership of these products by the partner through its close involvement in all stages of the study; and 3) development of a sustainable partnership between a team of researchers and a recognized organization with networks across Canada and internationally. These three spin-offs will provide a solid basis for an increasing number of permanent implementation initiatives, in Québec and elsewhere in Canada, not just in occupational therapy but also in other professions.
Subject(s)
Needs Assessment , Occupational Therapists/education , Occupational Therapists/psychology , Occupational Therapy/education , Social Change , Attitude of Health Personnel , Delivery of Health Care , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Humans , Program Development , Program Evaluation , Qualitative Research , Social SupportABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIM: Clinical reasoning, a critical skill influenced by education and practice context, determines how occupational therapists teach transfer skills. Teaching strategies affect intervention efficacy. Although knowledge about the way teaching strategies are chosen could help improve interventions, few studies have considered this aspect. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the clinical reasoning process of occupational therapists underlying the choice of strategies to teach older adults transfer skills. METHODS: A grounded theory study was carried out with eleven community occupational therapists recruited in six Health and Social Services Centres in Québec, Canada. Data were collected through observations of teaching situations (n = 31), in-depth semi-structured interviews (n = 12) and memos, and were analysed using constant comparative methods. Memos were also used to raise codes to conceptual categories, leading to an integrative framework. Rigour was assured by following scientific criteria for qualitative studies. RESULTS: The integrative framework includes the clinical reasoning process, consisting of eight stages, and its factors of influence. These factors are internal (experiences and elements of personal context) and external (type of transfer, clients' and their environment's characteristics and practice context). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical reasoning process underlying the choice of strategies to teach transfer skills was conceptualised into an integrative framework. Such a framework supports clinicians' reflective practice, highlights the importance of theory and practice of pedagogy in occupational therapists' education, and encourages consideration and better documentation of the possible influence of practice context on teaching interventions. As such, this integrative framework could improve occupational therapists' transfer skill interventions with older adults.
Subject(s)
Clinical Competence/standards , Occupational Therapy/methods , Patient Education as Topic/methods , Self Care/methods , Adult , Aged , Canada , Female , Humans , Interviews as Topic , Male , Motor Skills , Occupational Therapy/standards , Professional-Patient Relations , Qualitative Research , Teaching/methodsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Occupational therapy interventions in the community, a fast expanding practice setting, are central to an important social priority, the ability to live at home. These interventions generally involve only a small number of home visits, which aim at maximising the safety and autonomy of community-dwelling clients. Knowing how community occupational therapists determine their interventions, i.e. their clinical reasoning, can improve intervention efficacy. However, occupational therapists are often uninformed about and neglect the importance of clinical reasoning, which could underoptimise their interventions. AIM: To synthesise current knowledge about community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning. METHOD: A scoping study of the literature on community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning was undertaken. RESULTS: Fifteen textbooks and 25 articles, including six focussing on community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning, were reviewed. Community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning is influenced by internal and external factors. Internal factors include past experiences, expertise and perceived complexity of a problem. One of the external factors, practice context (e.g. organisational or cultural imperatives, physical location of intervention), particularly shapes community occupational therapists' clinical reasoning, which is interactive, complex and multidimensional. However, the exact influence of many factors (personal context, organisational and legal aspects of health care, lack of resources and increased number of referrals) remains unclear. CONCLUSION: Further studies are needed to understand better the influence of internal and external factors. The extent to which these factors mould the way community occupational therapists think and act could have a direct influence on the services they provide to their clients.
