A Survey of Occupational Therapy Practice in Beijing, China

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for rehabilitation services in China as a result of the growing number of people with physical and mental challenges, as well as the growing population of older adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the current occupational therapy (OT) resources available in Beijing, China, to serve as the first step in planning the response to increasing demand for OT services from the people of China. Specifically, using the snowball sampling survey method, we explored the work practice, including years of working experience, work setting, weekly work hours, annual income and factors related to job satisfaction among occupational therapists in Beijing, China. A total of 44 occupational therapists currently working in the Beijing area responded to our survey. The results demonstrated that most of the therapists working in Beijing area were young and inexperienced. Despite the fact that the participants had an average age of 31 years old and an average of 8 years' working experience, 61.4% of therapists were under 30 years old and more than half of therapists had less than 5 years of OT experiences. Among those included in the study sample, 50% had earned degrees in OT, and the rest of the OT personnel received OT-related on-the-job training in various forms and lengths of time. A majority of the participants worked in hospital settings with adults or children with physical disabilities and used therapeutic activities and therapeutic exercises. Being an occupational therapist is not a high-paying job. Education satisfaction, work experience and annual income are the factors related to job satisfaction for the participants. The majority of occupational therapists expressed the need to receive more support for clinical-related trainings. We plan to expand this pilot study nationwide to gain an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the OT workforce in China. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Overview of reviews of standardised occupation‐based instruments for use in occupational therapy practice

“…We did not locate any systematic reviews specifically investigating instruments measuring school and play. This was not anticipated as occupational therapy is well known for practice with children – either in clinical or school settings, and practice with children is considered one of the largest practice areas (Alotaibi et al ., ; Leong, Carter & Stephenson, ; Liu & Fong, ; Shi & Howe, ). Nevertheless, we found a small number of instruments focussed on school environments that can be explored further.…”

An individualised, non-pharmacological treatment strategy associated with an improvement in neuropsychiatric symptoms in a man with dementia living at home

“…At the time of diagnosis of mixed dementia in June 2014, there was no further formal cognitive screening, diagnostic imaging or pathology done to further confirm the diagnosis or stage of illness due to financial constraints and barriers to definitive dementia diagnosis in China 16–21. It should be noted that our dementia service organisation does not conduct the dementia diagnosis process.…”

“…There are a limited number of studies assessing the use of non-pharmacological treatment strategies for neuropsychiatric symptoms for patients living at home which focus on potential triggers of patient behaviours and behaviour modification strategies,13 interventions around environment and patient capabilities14 and tailored activities delivered by occupational therapists and nurses 15. There is, however, a current and projected global shortage of healthcare professionals,16 and this is acutely felt in China where there is a shortage of doctors, nurses and occupational therapists 17–19. In China, there is also a lack of adequate medical school training in dementia care and as a consequence, a lack of doctors confident in the diagnosis and management of dementia 20 21.…”

A Longitudinal Investigation of the Efficacy of Supported In-Home Post-Stroke Rehabilitation

“…Typically, the function assessment, e.g., an assessment of upper limb movement and strength, is a compulsory procedure at the beginning as well as throughout the training program in order to track the patient's recovery progress; hence adjustments can be made accordingly. However, due to the scarcity of physiotherapists and occupational therapists in China [13], the evaluation process is conventionally performed by rehabilitation clinicians whose training backgrounds could be in rehabilitation medicine, orthopedics, physiotherapy or traditional Chinese medicine and subjective error is sometimes inevitable.…”