Documents Every Occupational Therapy Student Should Know and Understand
Sarah L. Williams, University of Indianapolis
Student Representative to the Commission on Practice
As an occupational therapy student or occupational therapy assistant student, you are constantly bombarded with vast amounts of information that you must read, consume, comprehend, and maintain in your memory bank. During your college career, you may work a part-time job, become involved with various organizations, pull all-nighters, keep in touch with friends and family from home, and, of course, study anything and everything related to occupational therapy.
Several documents are key for students and practitioners to know and understand. These documents include:
- Occupational Therapy Practice Framework:
Domain and Process
- Standards of Practice for Occupational Therapy
- Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (2005)
- Guidelines for Documentation of Occupational Therapy
- Guide to Occupational Therapy Practice
- Standards for Continuing Competence
- Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services
- Scope of Practice
Descriptions
The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (Framework) was developed in response to current practice needs, intended to "more clearly affirm and articulate occupational therapy's unique focus on occupation and daily life activities and the application of an intervention process that facilitates engagement in occupation to support participation in life" (AOTA, 2002, p. 609). The Framework was developed as a result of the update and review process of the Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy - Third Edition (UT-III; American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 1994), which has been rescinded. Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants can use the Framework descriptions and terminology to assist them in communicating the unique focus of the profession to external audiences.
The current Standards of Practice for Occupational Therapy was revised and published by AOTA in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AOTA, 2005c). This document is a guide to the requirements in delivering occupational therapy services and is written at the minimum standard level. The Standards of Practice include many areas of concern for the occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistant. These areas include professional standing and responsibility; screening, evaluation, and re-evaluation; intervention; and outcomes.
The Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (2005) is an aspirational guide to professional conduct which applies to occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in all roles including, but not limited to, students, education, practice, research, and elected and volunteer leadership (AOTA, 2005a). It is a public statement of values and principles used to promote and maintain high standards of behavior within the profession. The Code of Ethics was revised in 2005 and is supported by the Core Values and Attitudes of Occupational Therapy Practice (AOTA, 1993) and the Guidelines to the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics(AOTA, 1998), which were also revised in 2005. Together, these three documents are known as the "Ethics Standards."
These documents guide all occupational therapy personnel on ethical versus unethical behaviors within the profession and serve as a framework for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas. Principles within the Code of Ethics include beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, confidentiality, duty, procedural justice, veracity, and fidelity. A companion document is the Guidelines to the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (AOTA, 1998).
The Guidelines for Documentation of Occupational Therapy was adopted by the Representative Assembly in 2003 (AOTA, 2003). This document, based on the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (AOTA, 2002), describes the components and the purpose of professional documentation used in occupational therapy. In this document, client may refer to an individual, family/caregivers, group, or population. This document clearly outlines types of documentation and fundamental elements used in documentation to guide the occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant.
The Guide to Occupational Therapy Practice (Moyers, 1999) provides general information related to the scope of occupational therapy practice particular to diagnosis, age, and occupational performance. This guide serves as a tool to define, evaluate, and improve practice and helps educate third-party payers, managed care organizations, case managers, and other decision makers about the value of occupational therapy services. It incorporates intervention plans, referrals, evaluation, discharge, and follow-up of patients. This guide to practice does not address specific issues related to a particular diagnosis, age group, or performance problem.
The Standards for Continuing Competence (AOTA, 2005b) outlines five standards that establish the criteria for examining competence in the occupational therapy profession. The standards were developed to assist in assessing, maintaining, and documenting competence of the roles occupational therapy practitioners assume in relation to understanding occupation, its influence on performance, and the importance of purposeful activity. The five standards are Knowledge, Critical Reasoning, Interpersonal Abilities, Performance Skills, and Ethical Reasoning. In addition, it may be helpful to be familiar with the standards for continuing competence specific to the state in which you wish to practice by visiting the 'Licensure' section under 'Practitioners' on the AOTA Web site.
The Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services (AOTA, 2004a) contains four sections that direct the delivery of occupational therapy services. These sections are: The Guidelines for the Supervision of Occupational Therapy Personnel, Supervision of Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants, Roles and Responsibilities of Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services, and Supervision of Occupational Therapy Aides. These guidelines provide a definition of supervision and outline parameters to be used by occupational therapy personnel regarding effective supervision as it relates to the delivery of occupational therapy services. The guidelines are provided for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in order to form a "joint effort to establish, maintain, and or elevate a level of competence and performance." (p. 159)
The purpose of the Scope of Practice (AOTA, 2004b) is to define the scope of occupational therapy. By defining the scope of practice, occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants are provided with guidelines to direct their interventions; evaluation and interventions are tailored to achieve outcomes that support clients in occupation; education and certification requirements are clear; and those outside of the profession are informed about what occupational therapy entails. Included in the document is the statement of purpose, definition of occupational therapy, site of intervention, and education and certification requirements.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (1993). Core values and attitudes of occupational therapy practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 47, 1085-1086.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (1994). Uniform terminology for occupational therapy-Third edition. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 48, 1047-1054.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (1998). Guidelines to the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 52, 881-884.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2002). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 56, 609-639.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2003). Guidelines for documentation of occupational therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57, 646-649.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2004a). Guidelines for supervision, roles, and responsibilities during the delivery of occupational therapy services. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58, 663-667.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2004b). Scope of practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58, 673-677.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2005a). Occupational therapy code of ethics. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59, 639-642.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2005b). Standards for continuing competence. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59, 661-662.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2005c). Standards of practice for occupational therapy.American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59, 663-665.
Moyers, P.A. (1999). The guide to occupational therapy practice [Special Issue]. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 53(3).
Updated December 2005