Social Participation in Schools: A Survey of Occupational Therapy Practitioners.

Objective: We sought to identify strategies and practices that school-based occupational therapy practitioners use in addressing social participation, their perceptions of competence, and factors influencing their strategies and practices.

Method: Surveys were sent to 500 randomly selected members of the American Occupational Therapy Association's Early Intervention and School Special Interest Section; 112 usable surveys were received from 36 states.

Results: Respondents reported focusing on internal client factors when addressing social participation. Fewer than half (46.5%) indicated that they understood their role (mean [M] = 4.23, standard deviation [SD] = 1.22), and 57.1% desired greater understanding or ability (M = 4.64, SD = 1.29). Differences were found based on years of experience, service delivery model used, and services provided by diagnosis category.

Conclusion: School-based occupational therapy practitioners may need to expand their current practices in addressing student social participation. Findings may be used to develop interventions to address this area of practice.