Scribd
Upload
17 views4 pages

Level II Fieldwork With AOTA's EBP and KT Team: Practice Improvement Perk

Uploaded by

api-699389850
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
17 views4 pages

Level II Fieldwork With AOTA's EBP and KT Team: Practice Improvement Perk

Uploaded by

api-699389850
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

PRACTICE IMPR OVEMENT PER K

Level II fieldwork with AOTA’s EBP


and KT team
Susan Cahill, Volume 28 • Issue 2 • February 2023, pp. 43–44 02/01/2023

Victoria Southwell Photo credit: Victoria Southwell

Victoria (Tori) Southwell, MSOT, OTR/L, is a recent graduate of the Occupational


Therapy Program at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, in
Manchester, New Hampshire. She spoke with Susan Cahill, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, AOTA’s
Director of Evidence-Based Practice, about her fieldwork experience with the
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) and Knowledge Translation (KT) Team at AOTA.

Cahill: You completed a Level II fieldwork at AOTA working with the EBP and KT Team.
What attracted you to this type of fieldwork opportunity?

Southwell: Part of what drew me to occupational therapy in the first place was how
broad a field it is, and I was excited to explore different settings during my Level II
fieldwork I was also interested in learning more about research and supporting
fieldwork. I was also interested in learning more about research and supporting
practitioners to use evidence in practice. When I heard I could apply for a placement
with AOTA that involved translating research for practitioners, it sounded like a great
match! It’s also a great option if traditional fieldwork isn’t accessible to a student for
whatever reason.

Cahill: You worked on many different types of EBP and KT resources during your
fieldwork. What were some of the resources you helped to develop, and how can these
resources help practitioners just starting out in their careers?

Southwell: I spent a lot of time creating Evidence-Informed Intervention Ideas decision


guides, which translate information from systematic reviews into a list of clear and
practical intervention ideas to use with clients. I think these are fantastic resources for
new practitioners. If you’re unfamiliar with a diagnosis or unsure what to do during an
intervention session, these decision guides are a quick way to find trustworthy
information about interventions.

I also developed a clinical application resource to help practitioners apply Choosing


Wisely® recommendation #6: Don’t initiate occupational therapy interventions without
completion of the client’s occupational profile and setting collaborative goals. Then, I
developed example occupational profiles using the AOTA Occupational Profile
Template. The template is helpful for new practitioners because it provides structure
and questions to guide the focus of evaluation. Using the Occupational Profile
Template also helps to ensure that you collect information about the client’s insights
and priorities.

Cahill: One of your projects involved collaborating with AOTA staff members and
member subject matter experts to offer an Extension for Community Healthcare
Outcomes (ECHO®) series about the AOTA Practice Guidelines for Adults With Chronic
Conditions. What is ECHO, and what was your role with the AOTA ECHO series?

Southwell: Project ECHO is a way of spreading knowledge about best practice to


practitioners who work in rural and underserved communities. Subject matter experts
and practitioners come together to learn and to teach one another about a topic. AOTA
created an ECHO network to share clinical recommendations and intervention
strategies associated with the newly updated AOTA Occupational Therapy Practice
Guidelines for Adults With Chronic Conditions. Participants had the opportunity to
share knowledge, ask questions, and apply what they learned from presenters to their
g q pp y y p
own clients via de-identified case examples. Because ECHO sessions are held via
video call, practitioners all around the country were able to connect and discover how
best to meet their clients’ needs. The practitioners could then bring the information
they learned back to their practice settings to share with colleagues and their clients.

I assisted with a lot of the behind-the-scenes preparation for ECHO sessions, including
making resources for participants, revising slides for accessibility, and creating
questionnaires to track outcomes and collect feedback. AOTA staff used the feedback
to adjust upcoming ECHO sessions. It was exciting to read the responses after each
session and see that participants were enjoying the series and making plans to use
what they learned. I also participated in the ECHO sessions and got to learn about the
dilemmas practitioners encounter in everyday practice.

Cahill: How do you think your fieldwork at AOTA helped you to prepare for work after
graduation?

Southwell: I don’t know yet where my career will take me, but I do know that wherever I
land, AOTA will have resources about it! I was blown away by how much AOTA does for
the profession of occupational therapy, from writing practice guidelines to successfully
advocating for changes in payment policies. On the new website, there are articles,
toolkits, and resources for practitioners about many topics I know I will return to later.

This placement has given me a unique perspective on the field of occupational therapy
and opened doors for me that I didn’t even know existed. I learned about new places
that OT practitioners can work, such as national societies focused on the needs of
specific client populations, advocacy groups focused on legislation and payment, and
departments of health care institutions focused on quality and practice improvement.

Cahill: What would you like other fieldwork students and new practitioners to know
about using evidence in practice?

Southwell: I wish more people realized the amount of work that goes into each project
and resource AOTA creates. Every step is intentional, and seeing the process from the
inside made me realize how trustworthy these resources are. There is a reason that
AOTA is recommended as the first place to go for information. I know not everyone
loves research as much as I do, but you don’t have to comb through journal articles
yourself to use evidence in practice. There are a lot of resources already compiled and
translated for you
translated for you.

Susan Cahill, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is AOTA’s Director of Evidence-Based Practice.

© 2023 American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Try it nowAsk again laterDon't show again

You might also like