Building a Global OT Profession

Since this keynote address from the World Federation of Occupational Therapy Congress was published in 2019, it has been cited so many times that it made our list of the 100 most-cited OT journal articles.

It’s easy to see why this has become such a popular read. The article stitches occupational therapy together with global trends, in particular growing inequality.

The author challenges us to see this problem clearly. And, calls us upon us to build globally relevant occupational therapy from the strength of our diversity. 

In this one-hour CE course, we’ll review this article, then to talk about practical implications of creating change in occupational therapy we are excited to welcome Vikram Pagpatan to the podcast.

1. You will be able to identify instances where OT theory may be too narrow/limited to achieve our desired global impact.

2. You will be able to recognize strategies to bring multiple perspectives into your OT services and advocacy.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Intro

  • OT Potential Podcast Intro

  • About this address

  • Terminology

  • The genesis of “Northern” OT theories

  • The problem with excluding multiple perspectives

  • What is neoliberalism?

  • Neoliberalism and OT values

  • Neoliberalism in our dominant models

  • Building a more relevant and inclusive theoretical base

  • How OT can contribute to society

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs

  1. Intro to Vikram Pagpatan

  2. Becoming an OT advocate

  3. Impressions of this article

  4. Expanding our understanding of valued occupations, beyond ADLs

  5. Practicing cultural humility

  6. Triangulating knowledge with individual clients

  7. Ensuring the diversity of our membership

  8. Triangulating our knowledge on a national level

  9. Association’s role in addressing inequitable structures

  10. Opportunities do you see for global collaboration

  11. Hope for the future of OT

Primary

• Building globally relevant occupational therapy from the strength of our diversity

Additional

• Estimation and Comparison of Current and Future Racial/Ethnic Representation in the US Health Care Workforce

• A call to resist occupational therapy’s promotion of ableism

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Vikram Pagpatan has no financial interest in this topic to disclose. He serves as an elected Board Director of the American Occupational Therapy Association and as admissions coordinator for the MSOT program at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.