Occupational Therapy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Occupational Therapy - Research Paper Example To qualify as an occupational therapist, one should posses a post-baccalaureate degree form a credited university or college, a university of college certification that is deemed equivalent is also accepted. The minimum entry point for an occupational therapist is a master’s degree or higher occupational therapy. In addition, occupational therapists should receive his education form a organistion that has been accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) for him to qualify to sit for the national exam. Occupational therapists practice is regulated in all the 50 states, before getting a license, one should be trained in accredited institution and sat for the national certification exam. Qualified occupational therapists are warded the ‘Occupational Therapists Registered’ (OTR), however specific licensing vary from one state to another for example some states consider an education practice certification, education related classe s or the early intervention certification. In addition, one should have competed supervised field work (Wilcock & Townsend, 2009). Occupational therapists work in large rehabilitation centers, educational institutions, nursing care facilities, home heath care services, government agencies, and community care facilities, hospitals, employed in private practice and in ambulance services. Occupation therapy works alongside the field of medicine, sociology, anthropology, law and psychology and any other discipline that contributes to developing its knowledge base. In this case these profession work along with doctors, nurses, counselors, psychologies ,social workers, public health officers, med lab scientists, family members among other key players in improving the patients life. On average it costs $ 15,000 to complete the training, given that occupational therapists are becoming more popular in almost all health institutions, undertaking the course will be very beneficial both in the long run and short run. For instance, in 2008.there were 104, 500 0ccupatonal therapist in the US alone. 2. Legal Issues The general Federal laws on the practice of occupational therapy are I regard to certification and licensing. States have laws that slightly differ from one state to another, for example South Carolina’s statutes on this practice are found in Title 40 –Of Professions and Occupations Sec 40. In Ontario, the statutes based on this profession are were constituted through the occupational Therapy Act 1991 There are the standard general laws that should be adhered to in practicing occupational therapy, the first standard is professional standing and responsibility and his practice should be in consistent with established principles and concepts of theory and practice. The screening, evaluation and re evaluation are all the responsibilities of the occupational therapist in accordance with the federal and state law among other regulatory and payer requireme nt and AOTA law. Occupational therapists should ensure that the intervention plan is in accordance with the set requirement such as external accreditation program, state and federal law and within the relevant time frame. The occupational therapist should document and interpret related to the client’