Interprofessional Education Enhancement: Inclusion of Occupational Therapy

Abstract

The increase in interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities provides an excellent opportunity for occupational therapy (OT) educators to partner with other health professions to deepen the understanding of how the OT profession adds value to future healthcare teams. The purpose of this study was to describe the development and impact of a curricular unit about the OT profession that was integrated into an established IPE program for medical, advanced practice nursing, pharmacy and social work students. A Needs Assessment was conducted by embedding an OT consultant within interprofessional student teams working in clinical environments over six weeks to observe baseline understanding of how student primary care teams work with OT professionals. From these observations, a curricular unit was designed that included lecture, interactive work stations, and case studies. Students completed pre and post surveys in order to assess their learning. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of pre and post surveys indicated a significant increase in knowledge, application of information, and confidence to refer to and utilize OT in clinical practice. Interprofessional students learned about OT scope of practice, possible interventions, and examples of appropriate referrals. The curricular unit provided an excellent example of how OT professionals can partner with health professions schools to provide content about OT when OT students are not accessible. Future improvements include assessment of longitudinal impact of the curriculum on health professions behavior, including impact on patient referrals to OT by primary care teams.

The Positive Impact of Occupational Therapy Involvement in Interprofessional Education

“…There is evidence that occupational therapy is not well understood by other members of interprofessional teams. This profession is faced with the unique challenge that it is not perceived to be an integral part of a primary health care team (Smith & Makenzie, 2011;Woodnorth & Davidson, 2019). Loy and colleagues (2015) have shown that there are misconceptions, misunderstandings and a lack of appreciation for occupational therapy and the role it can perform within interprofessional collaboration.…”