Occupation-Centred Practice and Supervision: Exploring Senior Occupational Therapists’ Perspectives
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Journal Article
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Wiley
Abstract
Introduction: Occupation-centred practice is core to contemporary occupational therapy; however, knowledge and implementation of occupation in practice vary. New graduate occupational therapists find implementing occupation-centred practice challenging, partly due to the influence of senior occupational therapists. However, little is known about senior therapists' views, knowledge, and use of occupation-centred practice and the impact this has on new graduates. The aims of this study were to explore senior occupational therapists' perspectives on and use of occupation-centred practice and the extent to which they influence the occupation-centred practice of the new graduates they supervise. Methods: Interpretative phenomenology was used as the research design. Ten senior occupational therapists in Australia were purposively recruited to participate in semi-structured interviews, which we transcribed. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data and develop themes. Findings: Five themes were discovered from the data: together, but apart; a link between knowledge and identity; navigating different cultures; making up for what is missing; and good supervisors. The themes revealed participants' varied knowledge and use of occupation-centred practice, the influence of practice context, and the way supervision impacted on the practice of new graduates. Conclusion: Senior occupational therapists valued occupation-centred practice, but their understanding and implementation of it varied. Participants acknowledged that they held great power to influence new graduates' use of occupation-centred practice through supervision. Consequently, if occupation is not central to supervision, this could perpetuate the ongoing challenges of delivering contemporary practice.Description
Keywords
new graduates, occupation, occupational therapy, senior occupational therapists, 4201 Allied Health and Rehabilitation Science, 4203 Health Services and Systems, 42 Health Sciences, 7.1 Individual care needs, 7 Management of diseases and conditions, Generic health relevance, 3 Good Health and Well Being, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, Rehabilitation, 4201 Allied health and rehabilitation science
Source
Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, ISSN: 0045-0766 (Print); 1440-1630 (Online), Wiley, 70(5), 548-558. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12879
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© 2023 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Occupational Therapy Australia.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.