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Background: Voluntary occupational therapy organizations fill an important role. However, recruitment and retention can be problematic. Little is known about factors influencing occupational therapists to join/maintain membership in professional associations., Purpose: This study investigated factors influencing occupational therapists' decision to join/remain members of their association., Method: An electronic survey was carried out and data were analyzed using SPSS software and manual categorization of open-ended comments., Findings: Two hundred and fifty-four therapists responded. Generation of new ideas, opportunities for professional development, self-improvement, maintenance of standards, improvement of the profession, and discounts on equipment/educational opportunities were significant factors in deciding to join the organization. The factors perceived as priorities varied in relation to participants' year of graduation., Implications: More-customized strategies, reflecting priorities that vary during a therapist's career path, may need to be employed to best address recruitment and retention across the range of therapists' needs and goals.

Background: Burnout, work engagement and work addiction are all considered components of psychological health in the workplace. Past research indicates that healthcare providers face significant challenges to their psychological wellbeing in the workplace., Objective: This study sought to determine the extent of these components in a sample of Canadian occupational therapists., Methods: An anonymous electronic survey including standardized measures of burnout, work engagement and work addiction., Results: Participants' scores at times differed from previous research on burnout in the occupational therapy profession in that they demonstrated higher depersonalization scores and lower emotional exhaustion scores. Relationships emerged among a number of elements within the various measures, and participants' age and years of experience. Scores indicating a risk of burnout and work addiction clustered at certain times across participants' years of experience, and scores for vigour were low in comparison to an international study of healthcare workers. However, scores in other elements were high (for example, dedication and personal accomplishment), which theorists propose may serve a protective role in mitigating high scores in negative elements., Conclusions: Findings demonstrate a risk for diminished work-related psychological health and point to key areas for further investigation around which targeted interventions could be organized for members of the occupational therapy profession.

Background: Occupational therapists (OTs) work in all areas of health and wellbeing. The work is physically and psychologically demanding, but OTs are often not diligent about recognizing and attending to the workplace health and safety issue of fatigue in their own work settings., Objective: The purpose of this paper is to determine current issues and the evidence-base as presented in the literature so as to develop awareness and best practice interventions for fatigue reduction and management in occupational therapists' workplace., Methods: A comprehensive search strategy was carried out by the medical librarian on the study team and themes were extracted from the relevant literature by the study team., Results: The literature revealed little research directly addressing occupational therapy workplace fatigue and we expanded our review of the evidence-base across all healthcare workers to identify publications of particular relevance to occupational therapists., Conclusion: This background paper is an important first step to raising awareness among OTs, guide key stakeholders regarding contributing factors to, and consequences of, OTs' workplace fatigue, and set research direction. Knowing which factors influencing workplace fatigue are shared across healthcare professionals and which are unique to OTs can also help organizations develop more tailored workplace fatigue risk reduction programs. This review concludes with a list of existing guidelines and tools for developing workplace fatigue risk assessment and management programs relevant to occupational therapists.

Purpose: This study surveyed Canadian occupational therapists to identify whether their pain knowledge is current or if the gaps identified in past studies have remained the same. The findings will provide information to guide the development of targeted pain knowledge translation strategies for occupational therapists., Method: A self-report survey, including demographic questions and part of the City of Boston's Rehabilitation Professionals' Knowledge and Attitude Survey (COBS), was disseminated electronically to all members of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists., Results: A total of 354 therapists, most came from Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia and working in the community, acute care and private practice, participated. Over 50% had 10 years or less of experience. Deficit knowledge areas were identified in pediatric pain, chronic versus acute pain, pain assessment and medications. These findings are largely consistent with deficits identified in pre-2000 studies., Conclusions: Pain knowledge gaps persist among Canadian occupational therapists and this can, and should, be addressed within the occupational therapist (OT) curriculum and in professional development initiatives. It is concerning that this study identified similar knowledge gaps as those identified in previous studies of OT students and clinicians. Pain is a growing and complex issue with negative impact on occupational performance across the lifespan. Knowledge dissemination of occupational therapy pain assessment and management approaches should be a priority for the profession., Implications for Rehabilitation: Pain is a prevalent condition in all age groups of occupational therapists' clients. There appear to be gaps in occupational therapists' evidence-based knowledge of aspects of pain. Occupational therapy training programs and occupational therapy associations should provide education with a particular focus on identified pain knowledge gaps.

Purpose: Chronic pain is a complex biopsychosocial experience, and rehabilitation helps people to manage pain, and restore valued life roles. Evidence suggests that more positive outcomes occur when clients perceive their rehabilitation to be meaningful. People with chronic pain describe rehabilitation as personally-meaningful when they develop a genuine connection with a credible therapist who they see as a guiding partner, and when rehabilitation holds personal value, is self-defined, and relevant to their sense of self-identity. This paper presents a qualitative study of therapists' experience using an e-learning package on patient-defined, personally-meaningful rehabilitation. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used to explore rehabilitation therapists' experience of a prototype evidence-informed, online resource developed on the basis of eLearning and web-design principles. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of occupational therapists and physiotherapists, and inductive coding and thematic analysis of transcripts was completed. Findings: Twenty-four therapists (12 occupational therapists, 12 physiotherapists) participated, representing a mix of gender and experience (early career; experienced; and specialist). Four themes and 12 sub-themes emerged from the analysis. The resource delivered a positive user experience, which added (translational) value to enhance learning, and participants were highly positive about the future potential of the resource to translate chronic pain rehabilitation research for early career, experienced, and specialist rehabilitation therapists. Conclusion: Results suggest that the disparate learning needs of rehabilitation therapists from diverse professional backgrounds and experience, may be addressed through the one resource. Participant feedback provides evidence that the resource fits with current models of learning and behaviour change. This study demonstrates the importance of basing online resources on eLearning and web-design principles to translate complex biopsychosocial chronic pain rehabilitation research for rehabilitation therapists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Presents the result of a survey regarding the attitudes and beliefs that occupational and physical therapists hold in relation to chronic pain treatments. List of chronic pain treatment components; Patterns of treatment endorsement and pain beliefs among the therapists; Need for therapists working in a multidisciplinary teams to understand each other's differences and beliefs.