American Occupational Therapy Foundation

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The American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) is a charitable, scientific and educational nonprofit organization founded in 1965.

Contents

Mission

The purpose of AOTF is to advance the science of occupational therapy to support people's full participation in meaningful life activities.

Governance

The foundation is governed by a board of trustees and awards grants for scientific research and scholarships. Alice C. Jantzen was the AOTF's first president, serving from 1965 to 1966.

Publication

The American Occupational Therapy Foundation publishes a scientific journal, OTJR, Occupation, Participation and Health, [1] indexed by the National Library of Medicine and others.

Sponsorship

AOTF sponsors the honor society Pi Theta Epsilon. It is based in Rockville, Maryland. [2]

Related Research Articles

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.

Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's ability to fulfill their daily routines and roles. OTs have training in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of human functioning deriving from an education grounded in anatomical and physiological concepts, and psychological perspectives. They enable individuals across the lifespan by optimizing their abilities to perform activities that are meaningful to them ("occupations"). Human occupations include activities of daily living, work/vocation, play, education, leisure, rest and sleep, and social participation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupational therapy</span> Healthcare profession

Occupational therapy (OT) is a healthcare profession that involves the use of assessment, intervention, consultation, and coaching to develop, recover, or maintain meaningful occupations of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of OT consists of health care practitioners trained and educated to support mental health and physical performance. Occupational therapists specialize in teaching, educating, and supporting participation in activities that occupy an individual's time. It is an independent health profession sometimes categorized as an allied health profession and consists of occupational therapists (OTs) and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs). OTs and OTAs have different roles, with OTs licensed to complete comprehensive occupational therapy evaluations. Both professionals work with people who want to improve their ability to participate in meaningful occupations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holland Codes</span> Theory of career development & vocational choice created by John L. Holland

The Holland Codes or the Holland Occupational Themes (RIASEC) refers to a taxonomy of interests based on a theory of careers and vocational choice that was initially developed by American psychologist John L. Holland.

Occupational science is a discipline dedicated to the study of humans as "doers" or "occupational beings". As used here, the term "occupation" refers to the intentional or goal-directed activities that characterize daily human life as well as the characteristics and patterns of purposeful activity that occur over lifetimes.

The Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E) was developed by the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists in 1997, and describes transactions and mutual influences between the dimensions of occupational performance. It is applied by the accompanying Occupational Performance Process Model, which describes the therapeutic process from a client’s perspective. The main model illustrates the relationship between person, occupation and environment. Spirituality is the fourth dimension, placed in the centre of the model to highlight its fundamental importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Occupational Therapy Association</span> American professional association

The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) is the national professional association established in 1917 to represent the interests and concerns of occupational therapy practitioners and students and improve the quality of occupational therapy services. AOTA membership is approximately 63,000 occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, and students.

AOTF may refer to:

This article discusses occupational therapy (OT) in the United Kingdom.

Doing business as STAR Institute the STAR Center Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization dedicated to treatment, research and education related to sensory integration and processing.

Eleanor Clarke Slagle was an American social worker and an early pioneer of occupational therapy.

Substance use disorders (SUD) can have a significant effect on one's function in all areas of occupation. Physical and psychosocial issues due to SUD can impact occupational performance. Unfulfilled life roles and disruption in meaningful activity can result from lack of structure or routine, poor motivation, limited skills, and poor social networks. These deficits may also contribute to stress, affecting the ability to cope with challenges. While SUD can affect a client's participation in therapy and ability to follow recommendations, occupational therapists are trained to facilitate occupational participation and performance.

Occupational injustice derives from the concept of occupational justice, which originated in 1997 with social scientists/ occupational therapists Ann Wilcock of Australia and Elizabeth Townsend of Canada. As a particular application of social justice, occupational injustice occurs when a person is denied, excluded from or deprived of opportunity to pursue meaningful occupations or when unchosen occupations are imposed upon them thus limiting life satisfaction. The construct of occupational rights stems from human rights but focuses on the inherent right of individuals to participate in occupations, construed as their personally meaningful and goal-directed use of time. Through this participation, occupational rights contribute to fulfillment and self-actualization. Groups of people that may be vulnerable to experiencing occupational injustices include cultural, religious, and ethnic minority groups, child labourers, the unemployed, prisoners, persons with substance use disorder, residents of institutions, refugees, and/or women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pi Theta Epsilon</span> American occupational therapy honor society

Pi Theta Epsilon (ΠΘΕ) is the scholastic honor society of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation that recognizes academic achievement among students in the field of occupational therapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sensory processing disorder</span> Dysfunction in ones ability to comprehend and respond to multiple sensory stimuli

Sensory processing disorder (SPD), formerly known as sensory integration dysfunction, is a condition in which multisensory input is not adequately processed in order to provide appropriate responses to the demands of the environment. Sensory processing disorder is present in many people with dyspraxia, autism spectrum disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Individuals with SPD may inadequately process visual, auditory, olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), vestibular (balance), proprioception, and interoception sensory stimuli.

Occupational justice is a particular category of social justice related to the intrinsic need for humans to explore and act on their environments in ways that provide healthy levels of intellectual stimulation, and allow for personal care and safety, subsistence, pleasure, and social participation.\

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikolai Izmerov</span> Soviet-Russian public figure (1927–2016)

Nikolai Fedotovich Izmerov was a Soviet and Russian occupational hygienist and public figure, who made significant contributions to occupational hygiene.

Gary Wayne Kielhofner was an American social scientist and influential occupational therapy theorist who rose to prominence as a scholar during his time as Professor and Wade-Meyer Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is best known for his conceptual practice model, which is known globally as The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO). The model was first published as a series of articles in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy by Kielhofner and others but later extensively developed over Kielhofner's career and disseminated in numerous books and articles. Kielhofner lectured widely and consulted regularly in the United States and abroad, particularly throughout Scandinavia, the United Kingdom,, Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Hong Kong, Israel, and Central and South America. An active network of proponents across the international occupational therapy community continues to study and evolve his model through the MOHO Clearinghouse maintained at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Stephen J. Page is an American biomedical researcher known for his research on motor recovery and neurorehabilitation after stroke. Page developed stroke interventions such as modified constraint-induced movement therapy and applications of mental practice in neurorehabilitation, including the first application of mental practice to stroke survivors to increase neuroplasticity Page has authored scientific research articles about topics such as electrical stimulation, myoelectrics, outcome measurement, and neuromodulation. He has held academic appointments at The Ohio State University Medical Center and The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

References

  1. Christiansen, Charles; Haertl, Kristine (2014). A Contextual History of Occupational Therapy (12 ed.). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. pp. 9–31. ISBN   9781451110807.
  2. Anderson, Lori; Reed, Kathlyn (2017). The History of Occupational Therapy (1 ed.). Thorofare, NJ: Slack Inc. pp. 188–189. ISBN   978-1-61711-997-2.