Author

Naina Jamani

Date of Award

6-2004

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Dr. Diane Dirette

Second Advisor

Dr. Ben Atchison

Third Advisor

Dr. Paula W. Jamison

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what medical doctors working in the Canadian healthcare system know about occupational therapy, and if this understanding of occupational therapy is deemed valuable by the rate of referrals generated by these practitioners. This study will examine the relationship between physician's knowledge level and referrals to occupational therapy. The study instrument was a survey that consisted of eight questions, seven multiple choice and one open-ended response. The study took approximately five minutes to complete. A total of forty surveys were distributed at three different acute hospital settings. A total of fourteen or thirty-five percent of surveys were completed and returned. Questions were related to how information about occupational therapy was accessed, if the physicians felt they had a good understanding of occupational therapy, and their referral patterns to occupational therapy. Physicians were asked to select occupational interventions from a possible list of sixteen rehabilitative interventions to determine if what they perceived occupational therapy to be was accurate. The results indicate that eighty-six percent or respondents felt that occupational therapy was important or very important to the rehabilitation of their patients, however when asked to select occupational therapy interventions the results show that respondents were not aware of all the areas that occupational therapists are involved in.

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