Commentary ‘Terminal and Instrumental Values of Beginning Occupational Therapy Students’

Thisstudy examined the priorities for theory application and for theory development of 149 students from four different undergraduate occupational therapy curricula. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis ofvariance by ranks and again using the F test followed by Duncan's Multiple Range Test. Results ofthe two analyses were consistent: Compared to registered occupational therapists, undergraduate students bold higher prioritiesfor theory application and lower priorities for theory development. The data support a developmental sequencefor theory valuing: valuefor theory application -value for research -value for theory development.The American Occupational Therapy Foundation (1982, 1983) has made clear that a primary aim of occupational therapy should be research and the development of theory. Unless therapists place value on theory development, such an aim cannot be supported. As Teske and Spelbring Julia Van Deusen, PhD, OTR, is Associate Professor, Department of Occupational Therapy, BoxJ-164,J. Hillis Miller Health Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610.

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Occupational Therapy Theory: Values Held by Undergraduate Students

Deusen¹

1986

Value Acquisition in an Occupational Therapy Curriculum

DePoy¹,

Merrill²

1988

As the health care industry has become increasingly competitive, health care practitioners have become aware of the need to demonstrate that the occupational groups to which they belong perform unique and vital services to clients and patients. This awareness has fostered the development of a body of literature on professional identity and development that includes discussion of the role of values in defining and differentiating professional groups The purpose of this study was to begin exploration and discussion of the process by which students in one occupational therapy curriculum acquire and integrate professional values. The results of the study indicate that the acquisition of professional values may be a developmental process that is not complete at graduation from academic training. Additionally, the study indicates that value acquisition is a fertile area for research, one of tremendous importance for the education of future practitioners.

Work Values of Freshmen in Allied Health and Helping Professions: A Comparative Study

Avi-Itzhak¹,

Ben-Shem²

1993

The overall purposes of this study were to assess and compare the nature of the relationships between work values and vocational choices in a sample of Israeli freshmen aspiring to careers in allied health and helping professions following Super's (1970) self-concept developmental theory of vocational behavior. Results show that work values held by freshmen aspiring to careers in occupational therapy were the most heterogeneous among the four subgroups in the study. Results indicate that these freshmen tend to attach less importance to intellectual stimulation, associates, creativity, management, and prestige, and higher importance to aesthetics. The study has demonstrated significant differences among the work values of the four educational programs. For freshmen enrolled in therapy-oriented programs (occupational and physical therapy), job-related challenge, relationships, and creativity are less important than for freshmen enrolled in the service-oriented programs (special education and nursing). For freshmen enrolled in allied health programs (occupational and physical therapy and nursing), job-related prestige and challenge are more important than to those enrolled in a helping profession program (special education). Freshmen enrolled in occupational therapy are separated from all other freshmen on job-related aesthetics and management. While the former is most important to these freshmen, the latter is the least important.