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...

To aim to inductively clarify the professional identity of occupational therapists who work in a clinical setting, the researchers interviewed the 22 occupational therapists who had a minimum of 5 years or more of practice in the field. The professional identities of the practicing occupational therapists were constructed by the following two core categories: “harmonizing with a client’s life a...

This document was developed to help occupa· tional therapists apply Uniform TerminologySecond Edition to practice. A grid format (Dunn, 1988) allows a therapist to systematically identify an individual's deficit and strength areas and to select appropriate activities to address these areas in occupational therapy intervention. On the grid (see Appendix A), the horizontal axis is composed of the...

This article reports some of the results of the American Occupational Therapy Association/American Occupational Therapy Foundation Clinical Reasoning Study. Therapists are thought to use three different types of reasoning when solving problems in day-to-day practice. Procedural reasoning guides the therapist in thinking about the patient's physical performance problems. Interactive reasoning is...

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...

A citation analysis was done on literature cited in 1978, 1980, and 1982 issues of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. The results confirmed two impressions. The body of literature specific to occupational therapy is very small. But the body of literature potentially relevant to the work of the occupational therapist is very large, covering many disciplines. An unexpected finding was ...

The occupational therapist functions as an integral member of the burn care team and assists patients in achieving an optimal level of independence and a satisfying life style after a burn injury. With early assessment and ongoing occupational therapy intervention, an individual recovering from a burn injury should be able to return to a functional life style more rapidly.

In this article we argue for the development of an understanding of human occupation as being inherently political. Occupational therapy is broadly about the experience of ‘doing’ as the basis of social participation. This requires access to the means of participation: space, facilities and resources for different forms of human action, and occupational therapists need to develop an understandi...

From my personal experience as a therapist employed in a nontraditional setting, I have identified the skills and abilities of experienced occupational therapists that are germane to work in nontraditional settings or beyond the clinic walls. Our profession can benefit from therapists working in nontraditional settings by gaining recognition and influencing decision makers in ways that will ben...