Date Presented 4/20/2018
This study underscores the benefits and challenges of use of the Occupational Profile Template (OPT) by novice clinicians in capturing clients’ perspective of self and occupational identity. Use of the OPT reinforces the profession’s goal of promoting the discipline as an occupation-based practice that promotes health.
Primary Author and Speaker: Kalie Simmons
Additional Authors and Speakers: Emily Guberman, Karen Aranha
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the benefits of the use of the Occupational Profile Template (OPT) by novice clinicians in collaborating with clients to co-construct lived experiences and capture clients’ occupational identity. The goal of the American Occupational Therapy Association in making the occupational profile the central pillar of the profession and in creating the template was to help clinicians stay focused on restoring, maintaining, and developing clients’ occupational identity. The occupational profile, referred to as a “moving target,” is designed to foster client–therapist collaboration and engagement in client-centered care. Focusing on a client’s occupational identity to restore health is a unique value that occupational therapy has to offer, like no other discipline.
The suitability of the OPT for use by novice clinicians has not been studied. We used the Person–Environment–Occupation Model as the theoretical framework to explore novice clinicians’ perspectives on the use of the OPT in enhancing their occupational performance in collaborating with clients.
METHOD: This phenomenological study used a purposive sample of the reflections of two second-year master of occupational therapy students (MOTS) from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. The MOTS were supervised by an occupational therapist while in their fieldwork Level I placement. Participants completed the OPT using a semistructured interview with five clients in an inpatient clinic for the underserved population of people with mental health conditions over 2 wk. Demographic information on the clients included health insurance, level of education, living conditions, and occupations; sources of income and diagnoses were not identified.
An emergent strategy was used for data analysis. The patient-specific OPTs were deidentified. The MOTS then reflected and journaled on the utility of the OPT in helping them collaborate with clients on four predetermined factors: therapist–client collaboration, client reflection during the interview process, understanding strengths and weaknesses of the client, and client prioritization of needs. Analysis consisted of open line coding, memoing, and fracturing of data to examine for emerging themes by the two MOTS and a faculty member.
RESULTS: The overarching themes that emerged included the extroverted client who was forthcoming with information versus the introverted client who shied away from conversations. The utility of the OPT themes included “gain rich information,” “client’s perspective of self,” “ease in collaborating with extroverted clients,” “building rapport,” “provided a starting point,” and “provided scaffolding for patient reflection.” Themes associated with challenges included “lack of detail in understanding the introverted clients” and “time management with extroverted patients.” The challenges were tentatively attributed to a lack of expertise in interviewing by novice clinicians.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the MOTS found the OPT to be a good tool for generating rich detail about a client’s perspective on his or her occupational profile. Overall, having a structured starting point empowered these novice clinicians in their first encounters in their fieldwork placement and as new clinicians. On the basis of the emerging themes, the OPT appears to have the potential to enhance the performance skills of novice clinicians with the underserved population of people with mental health conditions. The structure and format of a semistructured interview used in the OPT enabled the novice clinicians to collaborate and co-construct clients’ occupational profile and identities.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2014). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (3rd ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(Suppl. 1), S1–S48. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2014.682006
Hinojosa, J., & Blount, M. L. (2014). The texture of life: Occupations and related activities (4th ed.). Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press.
