Five Years Later: Achieving Professional Effectiveness to Move Neurorehabilitation Forward

Abstract

The AOTA Centennial Vision outlined in 2007 challenged the occupational therapy profession to become a "powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, and evidence-based" profession that could adapt to changing societal and cultural needs and flourish well into the future. That challenge can be met by simply being effective at what we do; this will increase our value and validate our worth. Neurorehabilitation in occupational therapy can also thrive if we verify that the interventions we use and the strategies we implement are grounded in evidence. Professional effectiveness will emerge by (1) increasing the dissemination of research that supports the methods we use and informs others of the successful patient outcomes we achieve and (2) expanding development and validation of instruments that quantitatively and qualitatively measure functional outcomes. Occupational therapists can individually develop professional effectiveness by fostering greater academic-clinical alliances, objectifying evaluation and intervention methods, and preparing future practitioners appropriately for evidence-driven practice.

Features of scholarly practice in health care professionals: A scoping review protocol

“…The scholarly practitioner, also referred to as "scholar," represents someone who demonstrates a lifelong commitment to excellence in practice through continuous learning, engaging in evidence-informed decision-making, and contributing to scholarship and knowledge translation [2]. Research regarding professionals who adopt a scholarly approach to practice has shown benefits for the individual clinician (e.g., validates the provider's work and their profession) [3], the organization (e.g., reduction in staff turnover, increased productivity and efficiency) [4,5], and most importantly, patients in the health care system (e.g., lower rate of mortality and adverse events) [6].…”

Moving Toward 2017: Progress in Rehabilitation Intervention Effectiveness Research

“…Recent reviews of rehabilitation research have called on occupational therapists to increase the volume and quality of research (Rao, 2012); however, in addition to increasing the number and quality of studies conducted, a critical component will be to produce research that focuses on participation, activity, and occupations, the seminal characteristics of our practice, as past rehabilitation reviews have emphasized (Doucet, 2013;Gillen, 2010;Rao, 2012;Wolf, 2011).…”