Parler d’ergothérapie : étude mixte sur la façon de l’expliquer au public

Summary :

Background. The promotion of occupational therapy is essential in a population that still knows too little about it, but explaining this profession is not without difficulties. Few empirical studies have been done to document how to explain occupational therapy.
Objective. The study presented in this article aimed to describe the perception of key actors in occupational therapy on the elements to be included to promote occupational therapy to the public.
Method. A mixed simultaneous study was done by an electronic survey with a sample of convenience.
Results. 21 students at the master level, 11 lecturers and 8 faculty members in occupational therapy from Quebec responded. All three groups identified occupations and related concepts as threshold concepts. In their key message, all groups included state-ments about goals and values of the profession, but faculty members emphasized more on the invisible elements of the profession. The results also show a variety of strategies to facilitate promotion of the profession.
Discussion. The study provides new results on threshold concepts, in addition to classifying and quantifying them. It also points out the possibilities of making key messages comprising several types of statements.
Conclusion. The most named threshold concepts are occupations and related concepts. Key messages for explaining the profession frequently deal with the purpose and values of occupational therapy.

Article rédigé par :

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  Emy Pronovost

  Maîtrise en ergothérapie de l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
  emy.pronovost@uqtr.ca

  
  
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  Martine Brousseau

  Professeure au Département d’ergothérapie de l’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
  martine.brousseau@uqtr.ca