Type of Practitioners

Occupational Therapist

• Occupational therapists assess clients to establish a need for intervention, then plan and implement appropriate interventions in order to improve the occupational functioning of their clients. 
• They provide services to individuals, organizations, and populations within a wide range of settings and age groups.  

Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)

• OTAs work under the supervision of and in collaboration with occupational therapists to provide occupational therapy treatments.
• They may assist in treatment planning, documentation, and some routine functions.
• Requires an Associate's degree in an academic program approved by the ACOTE, three months of fieldwork, successful completion of the NBCOT examination, and meet any state licensur/certification requirements (Bureau of labor statistics, 2009).

Occupational Therapy Aides

• Work under the supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant.
• General tasks include preparing materials and equipment.
• Perform many clerical tasks such as scheduling appointments, managing supplies, and completing insurance forms or other paperwork.
• Minimum requirement of a high school diploma (Bureau of labor statistics, 2009).

Practice Areas and Settings

Practice Areas

Occupational therapy services are provided on the individual, organzation, and population level. People of all ages, genders, cultures, and ethnicities can benefit from occupational therapy. The six main practice areas are:

• Children and Youth
• Provides services to infants, toddlers, children and their family.
• Work in collaboration with teachers, special educations, and other medical personnel.
• Pediatric occupational therapists deal with early intervention, mental health disorders, sensory integration, and transition services.
• Children's main occupation is play so that is the primary focus of occupational therapy for children.
• Health and Wellness
• An individuals health is directly related to the physical and emotional well-being.
• There is an increased demand for this area of practice due to an increasing aging population, the growing rates of obesity, the focus of health care disparities, and the effect of technology on health.
• Mental Health
• Treat clients with mood disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol abuse, schizophrenia, and many other mental health disorders.
• The main goal for occupational therapy in mental health is to facilitate the development of skills needed for independent, interdependent, and productive living.
• Productive Aging
• Due to the aging population, changing work force, and increased focus of quality-of-life, this is becoming a popular area of practice.
• Rehabilitation, Disability, and Participation
• Concentrates of the needs of those who have injuries, illnesses, or deficits from other causes that inhibits their occupational performance.
• Help clients return to the activities that they need and want to do.
• Work and Industry
• Services in ergonomics, work rehabilitation, return to work programs, and employment of individuals with developmental disabilities (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2010).

OT Practice Settings

The list of practice settings for occupational therapists is extensive. It includes, but is not limited to:

• Skilled nursing facilities
• Psychiatric hospitals
• Schools
• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Home care
• Assisted living facilities
• Acute rehabilitation
• Day care centers/preschools
• Hospice
• Sheltered workshops
• Wellness centers

Client-centered and Evidenced-based Practice

Two main principles guide occupational therapy practice: client-centered practice and evidenced-based practice.

Client-centered practice

• The term was coined in the 1930s by the psychologist, Carl Rogers, to describe a counseling approach thats main goal is to focus on the issues that are brought up by the clients themselves.
• There are seven key concepts of client-centered pratice:
• Respect for clients and their families and the choices they make.
• Recognition that clients and families have the ultimate responsibility for decisions about daily occupations and occupational performance.
• Provision of information, physical discomfort, and emotional support with an emphasis on person-centered communication.
• Facilitation of client participation in all aspects of occupational therapy service.
• Delivery of flexible, individualized occupational therapy services.
• Faciliation of the capacity of clients to solve thier occupational performance issues.
• Recognition of and focus on the person-environment-occupation relationship (Crepeau, Cohn, & Schell, 2009)
• Although there is little research evidence to support the client-centered approach in occupational therapy, there is a growing amount of research that supports the benefits of using client-centered principles in practice.
• Some of the benefits include:
• improved functional performance in meaningful areas of occupation
• Continuation of life roles
• Reduced pain
• Improved client satisfaction of therapy and outcomes

Evidence-based Practice

• Pracitioners should use current and most appropriate evidence from research studies to select the most effective tools for assessments, interventions, and outcome measures.
• In addition to information gathered from research studies, pracitioners should also use their clinical experience, ethics, client-centered values and theory to guide their practice.
• There are four steps to evidence-based practice:
• Writing a clinical question that has the ability to be answered
• Collecting the most current evidence from different disciplines
• Reviewing the evidence to ensure that one has found the best possible answer
• Passing on the evidence to client, family, and other stakeholders in order to make a decision (Crepeau, Cohn, & Schell, 2009) 

Supervision

Supervision is a daily aspect of occupational therapy practice. It promotes personal growth within the practitioner, encourages effective job performance, and most importantly, it ensures that clients recieve safe and effective occupational therapy services.

Supervision can be categorized into two main groups: formal supervision and informal supervision.

Formal Supervision

• Primarily concerned with directing and controlling functions of management of the organization.
• Given the authority to watch over the work of others to make certain that the work being performed is efficent in meeting the organizations goals and objectives.
• Formal supervisions act as a link between staff and higher levels of management.
• Adminstrative functions
• Prepare and delegate workload
• Arrange schedules
• Translate organizations policies and procedures
• Check performance with work standards 
• Educational functions 

• Familiarize new staff to organzation
• Provide discipline
• Provide feedback about performance
• Carry out training programs
• Supportive function
• Conduct group meets to express concerns
• Hold individual meetings with employees to discuss progress towards goals
• Provide formal and informal support  

Informal Supervision

• Also known as peer supervision.
• Supervision that is provided by a colleague who shares knowledge and provides feedback with  no formal authority.  
• This type of supervision occurs spontaneously as a result of professionals working together to support growth and development that will assure best client outcomes.

There are three types of supervision that oversee specific features of work that include administrative supervision, professional practice supervision, and functional supervision.

Administrative Supervision 

• Ensures that supervisee if performing to the standards of the organization.
• Focus on aspects of the job such as
• Attendance
• Schedules
• Use of benefits
• Successful completion of job tasks
• Typically occurs in public school setting.

 Professional Practice Supervision

• Supervisor provides support, training, and evaluation of performance skills.
• Facilitates the development of the supervisee's interviewing skills, clinical reasoning, and appropriate selection of assessments and interventions.
• Typically provided by fieldwork educators during Level II fieldwork experiences.

Functional Supervision

• Training and overseeing in a particular aspect or function of clinical practice.
• Supervisor is only responsible for overseeing work performance in the selected aspect of work (Crepeau, Cohn, & Schell, 2009).

Professional Associations

World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT)

• The official international organization for the promotion of occupational therapy.
• WFOT advocates for occupational therapy as an art and science and supports the worldwide use, practice, and development of occupational therapy by establishing its influence and impact on society.
• THe five program areas that work together to accomplish WFOT's goals include:
• Education and research
• Promotion and development
• Executive programs
• International cooperation
• Standards and quality

  

                                                                          http://www.wfot.org/                                  

The American Occupational Therapy Association Inc. (AOTA)

• Established in 1917, AOTA is the national member organization for occupational therapy practitioners and students.
• Responsibilities include acting for the professions concerns and interests, improve the quality of services rendered, define the scope of practice, and develop the code of ethics.
• Currently holds 39,000 occupational therapist, occupational therapy assistant, and occupational therapy student members.
• Volunteer members work together on association committees to expand and improve AOTA's mission, education and practice standards, and code of ethics.
• AOTA works toward quality occupational therapy services, improving access the health care services, and encouraging professional development of its member.

http://www.aota.org/

Florida Occupational Therapy Association (FOTA)

• Estasblished in 1977 as a group organization that strives to support, develop, and represent the profession of occupational therapy in order to enhance practice and improve service for the consumer.
• Maintained by volunteer support to provide assistance to the occupational therapists of Florida.
• FOTA also assists student by providing Myra McDaniel's student leadership fund for senior OT and OTA students to facilitate the transition from new graduate to professionals.

  www.flota.org