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Craik J1, Cutcliffe H1, Davidson K2, Douglas A1, Lauzon C3, Pelletier D4, Stacey A3, Torrance G5, Walton A6
1Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, Ottawa, Canada, 2Physiotherapy Education Accreditation Canada, London, Canada, 3Canadian Physiotherapy Association, Ottawa, Canada, 4Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators, Toronto, Canada, 5Canadian Occupational and Physical Therapist Assistant Educators Council, Medicine Hat College, Medicine Hat, Canada, 6OTA & PTA Education Accreditation Program, London, Canada
Background: In Canada, physiotherapist assistants (PTAs) and occupational therapist assistants (OTAs) are unregulated and often jointly-trained. Physiotherapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) have used PTAs and OTAs to support therapy services for decades. There has been significant work nationally to develop formal education programs, competency profiles, practice guidelines, and an accreditation process for OTA/PTA education programs. However, despite the ongoing evolution of OTA/PTA practice in Canada, there is no single organization/body which represents the OTA/PTA perspective, nor an agreed-upon vision of how these important healthcare team members can best contribute to the health and wellness of Canadians in partnership with occupational and physiotherapists.
Purpose: This first stage of a multi-stage project sought to better understand stakeholder perspectives about the current (today) and future (in five to ten years) role of OTA/PTAs in Canada's healthcare system, and to identify barriers and facilitators to the contribution of OTA/PTAs to healthcare teams. Results from this stage will inform future stages of the project.
Methods: A steering committee consisting of key stakeholder representatives developed an online survey to gather perspectives on a broad range of topics related to OTA/PTA practice. Survey statements referenced topics such as practice context, supervision, regulation, and practice resources. A 5 point Likert scale and comment boxes were used to gather responses. Steering committee members circulated the survey to their constituents (OTs, PTs, OTA/PTAs) in the fall of 2017. Quantitative analysis was conducted to describe the level of agreement with each statement and the most valued future actions. Responses were grouped according to the discipline of the respondents.
Results: Respondents included 584 PTs, 125 OTs, and 834 OTA/PTAs (total 1543); examples of some results are described here. There was agreement in the need for certification (43-59%) and/or regulation by OT/PT colleges (46-55%); however the future implementation of regulation was not highly valued (3.8-4.1). OTA/PTAs (55%) foresaw independent practice in the future, but only 7.1% of OT/PTs agreed. All respondents highly valued (4.0-4.5) the provision of continuing education related to OTA/PTA practice, but lower value (3.6-3.8) was placed on OTA/PTA membership in associations.
Conclusion(s): A variety of perspectives exists on the current and future states of OTA/PTA practice in Canada. There are convergent opinions in some areas, but divergent opinions in others. The variability is seen mostly when comparing responses of OT/PTs to those of OTA/PTAs. Results suggest that to describe the future role of OTA/PTAs in Canadian practice, more work needs to be done to explore the actual and perceived barriers and facilitators that exist with respect to how OTA/PTAs can best contribute to Canadian healthcare teams.
Implications: These results imply that challenges will exist when determining how best to optimize OTA/PTA contributions to healthcare delivery now and in the future. Further exploration of differing perspectives is required prior to the development of a vision and a plan forward to guide those involved in service delivery (PTs, OTs, OTA/PTAs, employers, associations, regulators, accreditors, educators) when developing consistent programs, policies, and health human resource initiatives. The next stages of this multi-staged research project will continue this work.
Keywords: PTA, Future, Interprofessional Practise
Funding acknowledgements: None
Purpose: This first stage of a multi-stage project sought to better understand stakeholder perspectives about the current (today) and future (in five to ten years) role of OTA/PTAs in Canada's healthcare system, and to identify barriers and facilitators to the contribution of OTA/PTAs to healthcare teams. Results from this stage will inform future stages of the project.
Methods: A steering committee consisting of key stakeholder representatives developed an online survey to gather perspectives on a broad range of topics related to OTA/PTA practice. Survey statements referenced topics such as practice context, supervision, regulation, and practice resources. A 5 point Likert scale and comment boxes were used to gather responses. Steering committee members circulated the survey to their constituents (OTs, PTs, OTA/PTAs) in the fall of 2017. Quantitative analysis was conducted to describe the level of agreement with each statement and the most valued future actions. Responses were grouped according to the discipline of the respondents.
Results: Respondents included 584 PTs, 125 OTs, and 834 OTA/PTAs (total 1543); examples of some results are described here. There was agreement in the need for certification (43-59%) and/or regulation by OT/PT colleges (46-55%); however the future implementation of regulation was not highly valued (3.8-4.1). OTA/PTAs (55%) foresaw independent practice in the future, but only 7.1% of OT/PTs agreed. All respondents highly valued (4.0-4.5) the provision of continuing education related to OTA/PTA practice, but lower value (3.6-3.8) was placed on OTA/PTA membership in associations.
Conclusion(s): A variety of perspectives exists on the current and future states of OTA/PTA practice in Canada. There are convergent opinions in some areas, but divergent opinions in others. The variability is seen mostly when comparing responses of OT/PTs to those of OTA/PTAs. Results suggest that to describe the future role of OTA/PTAs in Canadian practice, more work needs to be done to explore the actual and perceived barriers and facilitators that exist with respect to how OTA/PTAs can best contribute to Canadian healthcare teams.
Implications: These results imply that challenges will exist when determining how best to optimize OTA/PTA contributions to healthcare delivery now and in the future. Further exploration of differing perspectives is required prior to the development of a vision and a plan forward to guide those involved in service delivery (PTs, OTs, OTA/PTAs, employers, associations, regulators, accreditors, educators) when developing consistent programs, policies, and health human resource initiatives. The next stages of this multi-staged research project will continue this work.
Keywords: PTA, Future, Interprofessional Practise
Funding acknowledgements: None
Topic: Professional issues; Professional issues; Globalisation: health systems, policies & strategies
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: University of British Columbia
Ethics committee: Behavioural Research Ethics Board
Reason not required: environmental scan; preliminary/pilot research
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
