Affiliation:
1. Discipline of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences and Social Work Griffith University Queensland Australia
2. School of Clinical Sciences Auckland University of Technology Auckland New Zealand
Abstract
AbstractIntroductionOccupation‐centred practice is core to contemporary occupational therapy; however, knowledge and implementation of occupation in practice vary. New graduate occupational therapists find implementing occupation‐centred practice challenging, partly due to the influence of senior occupational therapists. However, little is known about senior therapists' views, knowledge, and use of occupation‐centred practice and the impact this has on new graduates. The aims of this study were to explore senior occupational therapists' perspectives on and use of occupation‐centred practice and the extent to which they influence the occupation‐centred practice of the new graduates they supervise.MethodsInterpretative phenomenology was used as the research design. Ten senior occupational therapists in Australia were purposively recruited to participate in semi‐structured interviews, which we transcribed. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data and develop themes.FindingsFive themes were discovered from the data: together, but apart; a link between knowledge and identity; navigating different cultures; making up for what is missing; and good supervisors. The themes revealed participants' varied knowledge and use of occupation‐centred practice, the influence of practice context, and the way supervision impacted on the practice of new graduates.ConclusionSenior occupational therapists valued occupation‐centred practice, but their understanding and implementation of it varied. Participants acknowledged that they held great power to influence new graduates' use of occupation‐centred practice through supervision. Consequently, if occupation is not central to supervision, this could perpetuate the ongoing challenges of delivering contemporary practice.