Occupational therapy reports: exploring best practice

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Johannesburg, June 2017Introduction: Communicating about patient assessment and intervention is accepted as an essential requirement of the health professional’s role. Current research indicates that this area of professional practice is the most routinely neglected. There is anecdotal evidence that reporting by occupational therapists, especially novice clinicians in South Africa, is of a poor standard, but as yet, there is limited research into this field. This study aimed to establish what occupational therapists view as current and best practice regarding report writing and the factors that influence their ability in writing profession specific reports. Method: The study was completed in two phases. The first phase included six focus groups, carried out with occupational therapists in a variety of clinical and discipline specific contexts. The qualitative data were analysed to determine specific themes using an inductive approach. Several conflicts emerged leading to the second phase; a nominal group with subject matter experts where data were analysed using deductive content analysis. Results: Three themes emerged. Generic occupational therapy reporting issues identified that therapists are subject to generic barriers that influence their report writing. The occupational therapy identity, highlighted that profession specific challenges, such as professional identity and the use of professional language are causing a disconnect in occupational therapists reporting on what they actually do. Thirdly, who is the audience, identified that the heterogeneous audience for occupational therapy reports can influence how findings are communicated. The disagreement as to how to overcome these challenges, lead to the subject matter experts in the second phase to provide recommendations to support best practice. Conclusion: Several recommendations surfaced, including creating a protocol and training to aid occupational therapists in complying with regulations. Ensuring reports are occupational in nature was deemed as important. Further research to establish a bank of explanations for occupational therapy language in South Africa to support the professions identity and to ensure service user involvement was recommended.MT201