Instructing Occupational Therapy Students in Use of Theory to Guide Practice

From paper to practice - academics and practitioners working together in enhancing the use of occupational therapy conceptual models

“…The preference for these three models from their undergraduate training is no surprise, considering all participants completed their graduate studies at the UFS, where the VdT MOCA and the UFS Activity Model have been taught more extensively than any of the other models until recently 28 . It seems that participants feel more comfortable using the models they experienced as undergraduate students themselves, as is also reflected in other studies 6,17 . However, participants indicated a preference for the MOHO and VdT MOCA, with the CMOP-E taking the third place instead of the UFS Activity Model.…”

“…Undergraduate training impacts on practitioners' confidence in their own use of models, which is problematic in view of limited literature about instruction of occupational therapy students on the use of models in practice 17 . Once in practice, the unavailability of role models and the pervasiveness of the medical model in occupational therapy practice, or at least some occupational therapy practice settings, hinder practitioners to apply occupation-based theory 6,17 . , is that although practitioners tend to admit to limited model use, they generally realise its value.…”

“…Ultimately, the profession benefits from the use of models in that it guides us to offer an occupational therapy process that boldly reflects our profession's 'unique contribution' through occupation-based practice 9 . These benefits notwithstanding, a number of factors play a role in practitioners' choice to use models or not, their choice of models and their proficiency in applying these models 17,18 . Undergraduate training impacts on practitioners' confidence in their own use of models, which is problematic in view of limited literature about instruction of occupational therapy students on the use of models in practice 17 .…”

“…These benefits notwithstanding, a number of factors play a role in practitioners' choice to use models or not, their choice of models and their proficiency in applying these models 17,18 . Undergraduate training impacts on practitioners' confidence in their own use of models, which is problematic in view of limited literature about instruction of occupational therapy students on the use of models in practice 17 . Once in practice, the unavailability of role models and the pervasiveness of the medical model in occupational therapy practice, or at least some occupational therapy practice settings, hinder practitioners to apply occupation-based theory 6,17 .…”

“…Once in practice, the unavailability of role models and the pervasiveness of the medical model in occupational therapy practice, or at least some occupational therapy practice settings, hinder practitioners to apply occupation-based theory 6,17 . On top of this, there are limited resources for continued training in model application in practice 17 . Whilst Owen 6 found in her study on South African practitioners that their use of models increased with years of practice; results from other countries indicate that the use of models declines with increased years of practice 19 .…”