Project Overview
Mentors: Anne Kiraly-Alvarez, OTD, OTR/L, SCSS & Jeanne Sowers, OTD, MA, OTR, CAPS, FAOTA
Capstone Site: Illinois Occupational Therapy Association
Areas of Study: Advocacy, Education, & Leadership
Overall Goal: To introduce occupational therapy as a career path to students of all ages and diverse backgrounds.
Area of Practice: Evidence-Based Practice & Research
Project Description: This capstone project focuses on developing educational resources to support the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association’s Pre-OT Mentorship Program. The development of resources integrates current research, initiatives, and advocacy efforts to further promote the recruitment and retention of students from diverse backgrounds. This project aims to provide the modules and educational materials to students to make an informed decision to choose occupational therapy as a career path.
Needs Assessment & Literature Review
Needs Assessment
- Considering the vast diversity among clients, groups, and populations that occupational therapists interact with, it is important to understand the need to diversify the profession.
- Currently, strategies are lacking to recruit and retain diverse students within occupational therapy programs.
- Ford, Smith, & Banister (2021) found there need to be evidence-based strategies to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within the occupational therapy workforce.
Literature Review
- According to the AOTA Workforce salary survey, “3.1% of practicing occupational therapists are African American/Black, 3.2% are Hispanic/Latinx, and 85.3% are Caucasian/White” (p.7).
- A key step in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within occupational therapy academic programs would be to require the reporting of recruitment and retention strategies for underrepresented minority students (Brown et al., 2021).
- The most commonly cited reasons for not choosing occupational therapy as a career path were never meeting an occupational therapist, being unaware of occupational therapy, and already choosing another profession (Collins & Carr, 2018).
Accomplishments
- Created four modules for any student interested in the field of occupational therapy to access. Each module had a different focus and included a pre-quiz, a recorded lecture, two activities, and a post-quiz.
- Created an outline of curriculum development articles. The creation of the outline was important because it was used as a guide to structuring and delivering the content in an effective way in my modules.
- Completed a leadership CEU course to understand further leadership principles and qualities for occupational therapy practitioners and students. Leadership qualities are important when advocating for justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion principles because we are able to push for change as leaders.
Accomplishments Continued
- Created a leadership information sheet for current Huntington students. The information sheet included ways students can become in leadership opportunities as a student that will carry on into their careers as a practitioner.
- Created a research survey that was disseminated to current occupational therapy students to understand their experience in applying to occupational therapy schools. The results from the survey assisted with choosing which information is most important for pre-OT students to know before applying to OT programs.
- Created and delivered an in-service presentation to introduce students to current initiatives for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles in occupational therapy and how they can become involved.
Impact on Profession
• The impact I made on the profession includes developing resources for pre-OT students and providing current OT students with information about how they can become leaders and have their voices heard when it comes to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion principles. The educational modules will be available on the ILOTA website for any student or person interested in occupational therapy as a career path that increases accessibility to our profession. I plan to continue to advocate for justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in occupational therapy throughout my career.
- I am hopeful that the resources I created will reach many students who are interested in OT and provide them with the knowledge to be confident they can become occupational therapy practitioners. My hope for the future is that all OT/OTA programs across Illinois can promote participation in the ILOTA Pre-OT Mentorship Program so students are better prepared to apply and enter occupational therapy programs.
Christ, Scholarship, and Service
- Philippians 2:4: Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
- Proverbs 3:27: Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2019). Workforce salary survey. https://library.aota.org/AOTA-Workforce-Salary-Survey-2019-members/10
Brown, K., Lamont, A., Schoessow, K. (2021). Increasing racial and ethnic diversity in occupational therapy education: the role of the accreditation council for occupational therapy education (ACOTE) standards. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(3), 1-6.
Collins, P., Carr, C. (2018). exposure to, knowledge of, and Interest in occupational therapy and physical therapy as career options. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 6(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1357
Ford, A., Smith, D., Banister, G. (2021). Recruitment and retention of occupational therapy practitioners and students of color: a qualitative study. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75, 1-8. 0. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2021.039446
Credits:
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