Membership matters! Expressed attitudes of occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants regarding their state OT association: a survey
Permanent Link
https://hdl.handle.net/2144/36927Abstract
Career-specific associations are an integral part of professional life (Walston & Khaliq, 2012). In 1998, state occupational therapy (OT) associations reported that their membership rates reflected 25–50% of all registered OTs for their state (Breeden et al., 2000). Since then, membership rates have been declining throughout all state associations nationwide. This doctoral project is comprised of two nation-wide surveys distributed to OTs, occupational therapy assistants (OTAs), and board members of state associations in an effort to decipher and decode why OTs and OTAs do or do not join their state associations. Surveys inquired about the personal saliency of commonly referenced member benefits often provided by professional associations, and how respondents felt their state association provided for the effective implementation of these benefits. Open ended questions asked why and why not respondents are/are not association members and what their associations can do to change for the future. Significant results include the following: both OT and OTAs found the establishment of professional standards as most salient; board members rated implementation of benefits higher than current association members; and implementation of additional continuing education opportunities was the most popular change that respondents want to see from their association. Associations can most effectively begin to “modernize” their recruitment practices by creating more effective social media and Internet-based practices to disseminate pertinent information to stakeholders.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The occupational therapist as a global citizen: an education program designed to expand the boundaries of occupational therapy practice
Bahr, Elisabeth (2018)Our world is evolving into a global community. Increased access to travel, diversification of the population, human displacement and migration, and advances in technology contribute to this evolution. Globalization can ... -
Primary care occupational therapy: an occupation-based approach for veterans with chronic conditions
Duddy, Karen (2016)When people are healthy, they are able to accomplish with relative ease what they set out to do, such as going to work, traveling, meeting with friends, and taking care of their personal necessities. However, once chronic ... -
Evidence-informed occupational therapy interventions for children with developmental coordination disorder
Margow, Shelley (2017)Children with developmental coordination disorders (DCD) inherently have neuromotor disruptions that impact their functional performance (Watemberg et al., 2007). The prevalence of developmental coordination disorder is ...