Implementation of occupation‐centred practice by occupational therapists in acute adult physical settings: A mixed method study in a regional and rural health service

Occupational therapists promote health and wellbeing by working with people of all abilities to participate in the everyday occupations of life. However, within some hospital settings, occupational therapists face a number of challenges to implementing their desired approach due to time restrictions and dominance of other professions. Because of this, consumers and health colleagues in hospitals are unclear on the role or value of occupational therapists, and occupational therapists feel misunderstood. This may impact on job satisfaction, retention of staff in this setting and missed opportunities for identifying needs for consumers. In a regional and rural setting, this may be further complicated by occupational therapists working in isolation from direct professional support. In this project, occupational therapists in a regional and rural health service participated in an activity aimed to enhance their communication and confidence in their unique approach. The activity involved developing and using tools and resources for a hospital context that were 'occupation-centred' or were based on 'occupational therapy models'. Despite occupational therapists reporting that making this change required effort, they recognised that with persistence and collaboration, there was an improved understanding of occupational therapy contribution in the setting and better job satisfaction for occupational therapists. The tools and resources that were developed can be easily adopted by other organisations. These findings show that occupational therapists working in hospitals can alter their behaviours and beliefs to be more true to the profession. And that this benefits occupational therapists, consumers and the broader health-care team.