ABSTRACT
Establishing the adequacy or inadequacy of the supply of physical therapists, nationally and across geographic areas, has important policy implications for federal support of education and training of physical therapists. This article summarizes research that was undertaken to determine 1) whether physical therapists are in short supply nationally, or are geographically maldistributed in the United States, and 2) if there is an uneven distribution, whether it is possible to identify areas lacking physical therapists. The supply of physical therapists at the county level is examined in relation to factors presumed to indicate need for physical therapy services. Next, the distribution of physical therapists is examined in selected groups of counties to determine why some areas are relatively better supplied than others and whether any obvious set of criteria accurately and consistently identifies those areas appearing underserved. The major conclusion is there may be a maldistribution of physical therapist. Criteria for identifying shortages are recommended.
Subject(s)
Medically Underserved Area , Physical Therapy Modalities , Health Services Accessibility , Humans , Income , Population Density , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
This paper reports the findings of a recent study conducted to determine whether there is an appropriate distribution of occupational therapists in the United States. A method for an analysis of requirements for occupational therapists was developed to assess whether, given requirements indicators in each county, the current distribution is appropriate. As a final stage of the analysis, three groups of counties were singled out for special attention: 1. those with no occupational therapists; 2. those with low levels of relative supply of occupational therapists; and 3. those with high levels of relative supply of occupational therapists. These groups were compared in order to determine whether differences exist in demographic characteristics and health status indicators that might be associated with differences in the supply of occupational therapists in each group of countries. Conclusions and discussion of potential policy implications were drawn from the descriptive and analytic findings.
