Description

Presenters: Rachel Heeb

Resources

• Disability Policy Model.docx
• Dissertation (docx)
• Video Recording
• Slides

Notes

• 1 billion individuals living with some form of disability world wide
• OTs work with closely with those with disabilities in many contexts (clinical, research and policy settings; facilitating independence and addressing barriers for individuals with disabilities)
• The problem
  • gaps in existing literature between disability policy and occupational therapy practice
  • Occupational therapy could serve a huge role in disability policy but the political landscape of each nation and the potential role of OT in policy is still under-researched; future opportunities at the moment are unknown
• Long term goal and purpose
• Significance
  • throughout the last 50 years perspectives have shifted away from a medical model toward a social model where disability is a state that needs to be "fixed"; perspectives are aligning with the social model emphasizing how disability is the result of how society is organized and is a mismatch of the individual and their environment
• Universal vs Contextualization
  • Effective policy is typically adapted to fit a specific context; if everyone adopted the same perspective of disability how would this affect policies?
  • There are nuances and contexts embedded in each culture and the intentions of policies can be better shaped for cultural needs
  • Focus on the individual strengths of the individual rather than deficiencies
• AOTA's Vision 2025
  • collaboration and leadership
  • emphasize the provision of care for all people.
  • expand reach of the OT profession and clarify the OT role and articulate what opportunities will be available in the next decades
• OT and disability policy can and do work well together
• Design: Exploratory mixed methods pilot study
  • CRPD was used to analyze the legislation of different countries
    • looked at which codes each country prioritize the most (equality and non-discrimination, participation in political and public life, education, personal mobility, accessibility)
  • identified the gaps between the central policy documents of each nation and the practice of OTs
  • NVivo was used to do thematic coding using the UNCRPD articles as codes
    • word occurrence
    • thematic
    • data modeling
  • For the Canadian Policy
    • "definitions" is the highest coded
    • "rights" and "respect" were the most frequent words
  • For the US
    • "Accessibility" is the most coded
    • "individuals", "disabilities", "accessible", and "transportation" were the most frequent words
  • The OT definition across countries were similar
    • empowerment model vs medical model
  • A proposed model of OT's role in disability 
    • capacity build, empowerment, promotion of accessibility and involvement, evaluation or feedback
    • People with disabilities have the best knowledge about what policies should look like for people with disabilities
    • SEE: Disability Policy
  • Key takeaways
    • US policy rooted in medical model
    • Canadian policy is progressing towards empowerment and social models
    • OTs in both countries are forward thinking and progressive
    • OTs have a role to play