Page 2 - ACOTUP Fall 2012 Newsletter
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International Public Health – an opportunity
for OT students to explore new domains
O
ccupational therapy (OT)
has recently been recog-
nized as one of the
designated funded professionals
on family health teams. With this
recognition and the recently
adopted CAOT Profile of
Practice
1
,
OT roles are recognized
at both the individual and commu-
nity level. However, university
curricula and OT practice
continues to focus predominantly
on enabling occupation at the level
of the individual. Models of
occupational engagement, public
health, and health promotion need
to be further developed and
embraced within the field of occu-
pational therapy to enhance
innovative directions and ways to
frame practice at the broader level
of community and public health.
The School of Occupational
Therapy at Western University
has recognized these needs and
has implemented a course to
allow students to study in public
health with an added international
focus. This collaborative interpro-
fessional course with Oslo and
Akershus University College of
Applied Sciences (HiOA) and
Western University is in its third
year of implementation. For the
occupational therapy students
involved, the course provides
international classroom education
in public health with others from
around the world, thereby meet-
ing the need to prepare future
occupational therapists who can
frame and develop innovative
practice at the community level
both locally and globally.
A three-week portion of this
course is offered in the summer
term at HiOA in Oslo and ex-
plores topics related to: determi-
nants of health; interprofessional
collaboration; health inequali-
ties; health promotion; universal
design/environmental influences
on health; national and interna-
tional policies; priorities of the
World Health Organization; and
frameworks and guidelines on
public health.
The learning objectives of
this course also include describ-
ing core elements of one’s own
profession,
clinical
and
professional reasoning, and in-
tercultural awareness.
Upon
returning
from
Norway, the remainder of the
course is completed with class
time in small group format to
consider these topics within the
context of Canadian public
health and occupational therapy
practice.
This course concludes with
disseminating
information
through publication and/or
presentation regarding how
course content can be incorpo-
rated into Canadian OT practice.
Upon reflecting on the
course experience, students from
the previous two years have
identified four cthat resonate
with them as Canadian OTs
entering the profession
2,3,4:
1.
The need to be culturally
sensitive and competent practi-
tioners who can help contribute to
overall better global health care;
2.
The benefit of incorp
orating public health education,
such as social determinants of
health and justice in the everyday
practice of occupational therapy;
3.
The idea of promoting the
role of occupational therapy to
enable policy change at a macro-
scopic level and to advocate for
health promotion in practice; and,
4.
The importance of
creating international collabora-
tions with other health care
professions, in an effort to
enable communities.
References
1.
Canadian Association of
Occupational Therapists. (2007).
Profile of occupational therapy
practice in Canada: 2007. Ottawa,
ON: CAOT Publications ACE.
2.
Bonanno, L., Campbell, K.,
Haveman, J., Smorhay J., & White,
D. (under review). International
learning beyond the constraints of
the physical classroom. (Manuscript
submitted for publication).
3.
Chene, J., Hurst, J.,
Lucchetta, F., Secen, J., & Stroud,
J. (2012). Exchange provides an op-
portunity beyond the textbook. Re-
trieved October 22, 2012 from:
/
western_news/opinions/2012/May/ch
ene_et_al_exchange_provides_an_op
portunity_beyond_the_textbook.pdf
4.
Ren, H.,Main, A., Chu, O.,
Loud, E., Lau, M., Shen, A., Zhao,
L., Bosser, A., & Tucker, P. (under
review). Takk, Takk: Reflecting on
International public health learning
abroad. (Abstract Submitted – Cana-
dian Association of Occupational
Therapist Conference 2013).
PLAN A TRIP!
Join Occupational Therapists from across the globe
at these upcoming events or explore their websites:
Victoria, BC
|
CAOT Conference 2013
May 29 - June 1, 2013
San Diego, CA
|
AOTA - 93rdAnnual Conference & Expo
April 25-28 2013 |
Glasgow, Scotland
|
College of OT
37
th Annual Conference | June18 - 20, 2013
