Employment Decisions of Newly Graduated Occupational Therapists.

Employment decision-making is essential for understanding workforce trends. Current occupational therapy workforce research describes distribution disparities of occupational therapists within geographic locations, services such as acute care or community health, and private or public sectors. New graduates of occupational therapy programs are critical to meeting the demand and distribution disparities of occupational therapy services in British Columbia.

Introducing the individual Teamwork Observation and Feedback Tool (iTOFT): Development and description of a new interprofessional teamwork measure.

The individual Teamwork Observation and Feedback Tool (iTOFT) was devised by a consortium of seven universities in recognition of the need for a means of observing and giving feedback to individual learners undertaking an interprofessional teamwork task. It was developed through a literature review of the existing teamwork assessment tools, a discussion of accreditation standards for the health professions, Delphi consultation and field-testing with an emphasis on its feasibility and acceptability for formative assessment. There are two versions: the Basic tool is for use with students who have little clinical teamwork experience and lists 11 observable behaviours under two headings: 'shared decision making' and 'working in a team'.

International fieldwork placements in low-income countries: Exploring community perspectives.

Background: There has been a significant increase in the number of occupational and physical therapy students going on international fieldwork placements in low-income countries. Yet, there has been a lack of research describing this experience from the agencies that host students. The research question was 'how do members of an agency within a low-income country perceive, interpret and give meaning to international fieldwork placements where students from a Canadian university provide occupational and physical therapy services?'

Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants from five affiliated international fieldwork sites.

Getting it "right": how collaborative relationships between people with disabilities and professionals can lead to the acquisition of needed assistive technology.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a consumer-led equipment and device program [Equipment and Assistive Technology Initiative (EATI) in British Columbia, Canada] from the perspective of program participants. The importance of collaborative assessments for obtaining the right assistive technology (AT) for meeting an individual's needs is discussed in light of the program's participant-centered "Participation Model", or philosophy by which the program is structured.

Method: A cross-sectional survey with participants and semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants (≥ 18 years) who held a range of disabilities.

An interprofessional Web-based resource for health professions preceptors.

Objective: To develop a Web-based preceptor education resource for healthcare professionals and evaluate its usefulness.

Methods: Using an open source platform, 8 online modules called "E-tips for Practice Education" (E-tips) were developed that focused on topics identified relevant across healthcare disciplines. A cross-sectional survey design was used to evaluate the online resource.

Evaluation of methods for teaching electronic visual scanning to children with cerebral palsy: two series of case studies.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of two instructional techniques in teaching electronic row-column scanning to children with cerebral palsy.

Method: Two case series involving four participants each. Eight children, four boys and four girls (ages 3-13 years), were assigned to one of two intervention groups and completed three baseline and five intervention sessions.

1000 fieldwork hours: analysis of multi-site evidence.

Background: Internationally, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists has established a minimum of 1,000 hours as the fieldwork standard.

Purpose: To examine student development in fieldwork across placements to determine if students achieve entry-level competence after completion of 1,000 hours of fieldwork.

Methods: Archival data (N=400) from six occupational therapy programs were analyzed to examine the acquisition of fieldwork competency over time as measured by the Competency Based Fieldwork Evaluation Scale.