Professional Identity, Legitimacy and the Teaching of Treatment Media

Abstract

With such a wide range of media being used by occupational therapists, concerns have arisen as to the identity of the profession, the legitimacy of the media being used, and which media should be taught by educational institutions. The use of treatment media by occupational therapists in the greater Brisbane region has been studied using a population survey. An inventory of the use of media with a factor analysis on the patterns of use of media is provided. Three district patterns of use of media were found corresponding to the major client group of the therapist. Only daily living tasks were used across all three groups. The major findings of this study are that: identity issues cannot be resolved by referring to media usage; legitimacy of media must be established in terms of its compatability with the philosophical basis and treatment goals of occupational therapy; media should be taught in the context in which the media is used in practice.