What is the OTPF and what is its purpose?

The OTPF stands for The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process. This is a document that can be used by OT health professionals, students, educators, researchers, etc. It guides these individuals during OT practice, and addresses what the OT is concerned about with a client and what they want to address. It gives the individuals I mentioned above, a common language to refer to along with a standard communication. It helps us focus on occupations, health and wellness, and it highlights our scope of practice. Furthermore, scope of practice relates to what we as OTs are qualified and allowed to do with a client. The OTPF also addresses the OT process which is what happens from start to finish with a client. The Framework can also helps to have a top down approach which means we start our services by finding out what is meaning to our client in the beginning.

Era Presentations for OT

Today in my foundations class, we presented era presentations. We broke up into teams and we were assigned a specific decade to present on. Our goal was to talk about how different events, technological advances, healthcare movements, politics, etc impacted the era and how it did or could impact the profession of OT. The time frame we focused on was from the 1940s to 2010 and we also talked about what was going on in our world today.
It was very exciting and fun to see everyone dressed up to represent their era, and it was also a very fun way to learn this information. One thing that really stuck out to me was the fact that throughout most of the decades we talked about today, women weren't allowed to be apart of the workforce. Today, the profession of OT is predominately women. For example, we have a class of approximately 40 students and only two of them are guys. So, even though we have always known this statistic about women and the workforce, it really stood out today in way that can be recognized as our society growing and adapting.
Also, as we moved along the continuum, we talked about the technological advances of today's time. Some people see technology as a negative and some see it as a positive. Well, today during our presentations, we watched a video that made me, as a occupational therapy student, see technology as a definite positive. It made me excited for technology and its role in this profession. We watched how individuals with specific disabilities could use technology in a way that helped them do different activities that were essential to daily living, and also fun, leisure activities that so many of us take for granted.

When I entered OT school, I had an idea of what OT was, obviously, but I didn't realize that OT was so much more than what I had originally thought. I was almost embarrassed of myself to think that I didn't FULLY know what an OT was or what their purpose was. I have come to realize that it is such a rewarding profession, and I am not just helping clients get back to doing specific tasks, I am helping them regain their quality of life. I will be helping them get back to doing the things they love to do and activities that are meaningful to them. 

I think when people think of an individual receiving rehabilitation services, they think of them as just regaining movement or use of a specific body part or gaining the skills they need to go back to work. While, this is true, they are also regaining skills to do things that give meaning to their life, and what makes them who they are. For me, thinking about being a part of that is very empowering, exciting, and makes me believe that I have chosen a wonderful profession to pursue for the rest of my life. I am excited to be a life-longer learner and grow within this profession as it grows.