Community Occupational Therapy Education and Practice

OT practice is moving from the medically based model into the community--don’t be left behind!This unique and timely book sets forth the vital concepts of nontraditional community-based (rather than the traditional medical model) occupational therapy practice. It illuminates issues related to HIV/AIDS, homelessness, aging, disease, and much more, and points the way toward future research and practice techniques. In addition to defining the current state of the art in community practice, Community Occupational Therapy Education and Practice examines what it will take to prepare practitioners to be effective in nontraditional settings. Community Occupational Therapy Education and Practice:

• discusses ways to help OT students and faculty increase their cultural competence
• describes a university-designed demonstration program used to prepare graduates to work in community-based settings
• surveys students and faculty from a community-based program serving elderly African Americans
• explores cooperation between occupational therapists and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
• examines ways that occupational therapists can help to facilitate international adoptions
• chronicles the development of a community-based return-to-work program for people with AIDS, and
• studies a program providing OT services to homeless individuals living in an emergency shelter in Florida

You’ll also find a thorough description of the Pizzi Holistic Wellness Assessment tool for helping clients self-assess their health and well-being, a thoughtful look at the quality-of-life issues vital to OT practice, and much, much more!

Beth Velde, Margaret Prince Wittman