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A 3-year project of curricular renaissance undertaken by the faculty of an entry-level master's degree program is described. This project culminated in a thoroughly redesigned program of study centered around the construct of occupation and built on a foundation of knowledge in occupational science. Described herein are three developmental and highly iterative domains of activity that were crucial to the project's success: (a) environmental scanning and analysis, (b) creation of a compelling future vision of occupational therapy, and (c) curriculum planning. Also detailed are especially salient assumptions and beliefs about graduate education as well as seven themes that encompass the program's academic content and illustrate its defining emphases. These themes are (a) occupation, (b) the human as an occupational being, (c) occupation as a medium of change, (d) clinical reasoning, (e) ethical reasoning, (f) investigative reasoning, and (g) occupational therapists as scholars and change agents in systems. The article concludes with reflections on innovation in graduate education in occupational therapy today.

Occupational therapy is a global profession represented by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). International research priorities are needed for strategic guidance on global occupational therapy practice. The objective of this study was to develop international research priorities to reflect global occupational therapy practice. A Delphi study using three rounds of electronic surveys, distributed to WFOT member organizations and WFOT accredited universities, was conducted. Data were analyzed after each round, and priorities were presented for rating and ranking in order of importance. Forty-six (53%) out of 87 WFOT member countries participated in the Delphi process. Eight research priorities were confirmed by the final electronic survey round. Differences were observed in rankings given by member organizations and university respondents. Despite attrition at Round 3, the final research priorities will help to focus research efforts in occupational therapy globally. Follow-up research is needed to determine how the research priorities are being adopted internationally.

BackgroundThe search for preventive methods to mitigate functional decline and unwanted relocation by older adults living in the community is important. Preventive home visit (PHV) models use infrequent but regular visits to older adults by trained practitioners with the goal of maintaining function and quality of life. Evidence about PHV efficacy is mixed but generally supportive. Yet interventions have rarely combined a comprehensive (biopsychosocial) occupational therapy intervention protocol with a home visit to older adults. There is a particular need in the USA to create and examine such a protocol.Methods/DesignThe study is a single-blind randomized controlled pilot trial designed to assess the feasibility, and to obtain preliminary efficacy estimates, of an intervention consisting of preventive home visits to community-dwelling older adults. An occupational therapy-based preventive home visit (PHV) intervention was developed and is being implemented and evaluated using a repeated measures design. We recruited a sample of 110 from a population of older adults (75+) who were screened and found to be at-risk for functional decline. Participants are currently living in the community (not in assisted living or a skilled nursing facility) in one of three central North Carolina counties. After consent, participants were randomly assigned into experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group receives the intervention 4 times over a 12 month follow-up period while the comparison group receives a minimal intervention of mailed printed materials. Pre- and post-intervention measures are being gathered by questionnaires administered face-to-face by a treatment-blinded research associate. Key outcome measures include functional ability, participation, life satisfaction, self-rated health, and depression. Additional information is collected from participants in the experimental group during the intervention to assess the feasibility of the intervention and potential modifiers. Fidelity is being addressed and measured across several domains.DiscussionFeasibility indications to date are positive. Although the protocol has some limitations, we expect to learn enough about the intervention, delivery and effects to support a larger trial with a more stringent design and enhanced statistical power.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT00985283

Art-based learning experiences have demonstrated a range of benefits, including improved observation skills and perspective taking. This article describes the effects of an art-based module in an entry-level curriculum for occupational therapy (OT) students. An exploratory pilot study investigated the feasibility of a group-administered visual art-based module for 20 first-year OT graduate students. Outcomes were evaluated using a mixed-methods approach that combined pre-post quantitative results from survey questionnaires and qualitative reflective essays. Pre-and post-surveys revealed significant changes in the students' perception regarding the benefits of art in OT curricula. The students' reflective essays on their learning described art-based sessions as: (a) opportunities to practice perspective shifting, (b) tapping into emotion, (c) exemplars of the therapeutic encounter, (d) integrative and "out of the box," and (e) impacting student roles and the classroom environment. Findings support art-based pedagogies to complement coursework to build an understanding of clients, creative thinking, and valued learning experiences. Learning partnerships between occupational therapy faculty, art museum educators, and artists can offer fruitful interdisciplinary learning experiences.