Immediate action is required to address the crisis in occupational therapy fieldwork education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accreditationis a function that ensures quality in higher education.  Many accreditation functions in higher education are regional, and schools must engage those accreditation processes in order for students attending to be eligible for many forms of financial aid.Many professional educational programs are also accreditedby discipline specific organizations, which are in turn themselvesmonitored by national accreditors.  In sum, there are multiple layers to the educational accreditation process that all serve as a quasi-public protection to ensure quality. The occupational therapy profession has a discipline specific accreditor, named the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). This group has a statement on educational quality that can be found here.  This policy states thata profession is distinguished by a variety of factors.  Among these are a set of recognized educational standards for professional preparation; a credentialing mechanism for certifying its members; and a degree of autonomy in making decisions which guide its future.As such, ACOTE establishes standards that all occupational therapy professional educational programs must follow.  One key standard listed in ACOTE ' s statement on educational quality is toEnsure the integration of fieldwork education into the educational program so that it is implemented and evaluated as a key component of the overall curriculum design.In order to accomplish that re...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT Education OT practice policy Source Type: blogs