Hello Brent: There has been research on outcomes of patients receiving OT ~vs~ those not receiving OT. And of course, outcomes were as expected.
If I'm not mistaken, I think that you are calling for more research not about OT, but about specific OT interventions. If this is correct, I see a problem because there are not many, if any, strictly OT interventions. Even worse, there is very little non OT-specific research that can be attributed to our profession. While a lot of research applies to our profession, very little of it is associated to our profession. Yesterday, my wife correlated OT to general practitioner MD's. I think this analogy is perfect, well almost. Almost because most people have a basic understanding of what GP's do. Unfortunately, most people have little concept of OT. Thanks, Ron -- Ron Carson MHS, OT www.OTnow.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Brent Cheyne <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subj: [OTlist] Theory vs real world BC> To Ron and the list, BC> Good Subject matter and discussion, according to AOTA, OT in the BC> future will become more evidence-based and science driven BC> (Centennial Vision), which means that in addition to all of our BC> existenial anxst about defining our unique profession by theory, we BC> now need empirical data that supports our dearest held theories and BC> beliefs. In fact our theories should be shaped by trends in our BC> data as much as our theories dictate our methods. This can be a very BC> threatening process for professionals. I recently was on a BC> continuing ed course on evidence-based practice and I found it BC> fascinating but the scary thng I learned that was that for OT BC> there's not a lot of science and evidence that confirms our theories. BC> Clinical practice is as likely to be shaped by research in the BC> future as it is by theory and therefore I think we should all keep BC> an open mind about what we believe in...and adjust our practices BC> accordingly. Some practices will be confirmed as more effective (and BC> cost effective) than others in certain settings, BC> I know that OT is really just in its infancy regarding true BC> science, and much debate will follow, but the truth of effective BC> rehabilitation methods may only partially suit our world view (and framework). BC> Remember at one time the world was thought to be flat, and the BC> sun was thought to revolve around earth as the center of the BC> universe. These were another couple of widely held theories. BC> Brent C BC> BC> -- BC> Options? BC> www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com BC> Archive? BC> www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
