Abstract
The business of the 38th spring meeting of the Representative Assembly is presented here in summary. A complete copy of the official minutes can be obtained from the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) website at http://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/RA.aspx or from the AOTA National Office.
The Representative Assembly met on Thursday, April 16, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Assembly passed motions to establish two ad hoc groups: one to investigate the merits of establishing a professional license portability for the occupational therapy profession, and a second one to explore opportunities and challenges related to occupational therapy practitioners as case managers in existing and emerging practice areas with recommendations for strategies to support practitioners who perform case management functions as a major component of their work. In addition, the Assembly passed a motion to adopt a resolution that AOTA support access to and funding for appropriate assistive technology (AT) provisions to meet patient/client needs and that occupational therapy practitioners be recognized and paid for providing clinical services related to complex rehabilitation technology (CRT). A motion to add a military representative to the Representative Assembly was defeated.
The following official documents were adopted:
Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (2015)
Standards for Continuing Competence (with minor edit)
Guidelines for Reentry Into the Field of Occupational Therapy (with minor edit)
Importance of Interprofessional Education in Occupational Therapy Curricula
Value of Occupational Therapy Assistant Education to the Profession
Full minutes are available at http://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/RA/Minutes.aspx.
Summary of Representative Assembly Fall 2015 Meeting
The Representative Assembly met online from October 28 to November 3, 2015. All action items were on a Consent Agenda, which was approved unanimously. These included the Representative Assembly Coordinating Committee (RACC) Attachment A to the RACC’s standard operating procedures (SOPs), outlining the five types of official documents and the process for document development; 10 Association policies, which were updated by the Bylaws, Policies, and Procedures Committee; updated Enforcement Procedures for the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Ethics Commission SOPs; and the revised Standards of Practice document from the Commission on Practice.
One of the updated policies was a formatting revision of the motion that passed during the spring 2015 Assembly meeting, to adopt a resolution that AOTA supports access to and funding for appropriate AT provision to meet patient/client needs and that occupational therapy practitioners should be recognized and paid for providing clinical services related to CRT. The purpose of this policy is to state the Association’s position on AT and CRT, and it was passed as part of the fall meeting consent agenda.
Full minutes are available at http://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/RA/Minutes.aspx.