Another OT Assignment

The Question:

How can we present OT to the public so that we can gain greater public recognition of our services?

My Response:

In order for OT to accurately represent itself to the public as a profession we first need to be able to define who we are and what we do within our profession. We provide a very diverse group of services, and the public can not translate that back to our professional roots, which are based on holism and occupation. The problem here does not lie in the hands of the public understanding, it lies internally – within our own understanding.

One of the major problems leading to a lack of public recognition is that there is a huge disparity between the definitions taught to occupational therapy students and what is seen in clinics across the country. As students, we are being taught that occupational therapy is a unique and creative profession; it is client centered and based on those occupations that are most meaningful to the client. However, in clinics, we see something totally different. We see almost no difference between occupational and physical therapy. We see the same, monotonous techniques used day in and day out, and very little patient interaction in goal setting and therapy choices. Most importantly, we rarely see meaningful occupations being used as therapy. This is supposedly the whole backbone of occupational therapy, yet most of our currently practicing therapists do not reflect it. A change needs to be made in therapy so that, during practice, we actually show people what it is that makes us unique and the creativity we are really capable of. Once we can get on the same page as therapists, once we can truly define ourselves as one profession, public recognition will come naturally. People will finally be able to understand what we can do for them, and why it is different from and more meaningful than the services available from physical therapists.

Another major factor preventing us from gaining deserved public recognition is that we are unable to back up many of our treatments with research. We have this attitude that our treatments work, but we do have no idea why, and we lack proof. It is important that we, as a profession, really begin to criticize and revise our own theories and studies. We need to make sure that our treatments are effective before we actually put them to use clinically. Especially with the current availability of information (true or false) on the internet, not many people just believe what they are told. If we are not careful, if we do not prove our services, we could fall right out of the circle of western medicine and become an alternative treatment, such as aroma therapy or acupuncture, which most people only use if they believe it works, or as a last result. When we can back up our profession with scientific research and evidence, the general public, as well as other medical professions will be more likely to recognize our services.

The future of occupational therapy depends completely on what other people – the general public, other health care professionals, politicians – perceive it to be. If they begin to doubt us and continue to misunderstand our profession, occupational therapy is in trouble. I am a firm believer that if we fix these two major internal problems, recognition will come naturally. It is then that we will be able to truly advocate for ourselves and advertise our services.