Occupational Therapy, North Western Mental Health, Coburg, Victoria, Australia.
Occupational Therapy, LaTrobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Aust Occup Ther J. 2022 Jun;69(3):255-264. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12787. Epub 2022 Jan 4.
Early in their career, occupational therapists may require a range of additional development for a successful transition to the profession. However, both the definition of 'early career' and the relevant development for this career stage vary between sources. In regard to occupational therapists transitioning to mental health professional practice, there is very little evidence to draw upon when designing the structure and content of development programs. This study aimed to review current practices in early career programs for mental health occupational therapists within the Australian state of Victoria.
Tertiary mental health services in Victoria were purposefully recruited, supplemented by snowball recruitment. The participants responded to a bespoke survey including open and closed questions, designed to benchmark practices against previous research and explore current practices with early career mental health occupational therapists. Thirteen services participated, with respondents including senior clinicians, allied health chiefs, allied health clinical educators and early career development program coordinators.
The participants confirmed the perceived value of development programs for early career mental health occupational therapists; however, limited resources were available to develop, implement and sustain these supports. Program content, structure and terminology varied significantly, as did the identified competencies for participants to achieve. Some of this variability was related to program eligibility criteria and early career workforce structure within organisations.
Early career mental health occupational therapist development should be responsive to their local service environments. A better understanding of the outcomes of these programs for early career occupational therapists, from both an individual and service perspective, could also provide a firmer rationale and foundation for sustained resourcing of this valuable approach to workforce development.
在职业生涯早期，职业治疗师可能需要进行一系列额外的发展，以成功过渡到该职业。然而，“职业生涯早期”的定义以及该职业阶段的相关发展在不同来源之间存在差异。在职业治疗师向心理健康专业人员过渡方面，在设计发展计划的结构和内容时，几乎没有证据可供参考。本研究旨在审查澳大利亚维多利亚州心理健康职业治疗师早期职业计划的当前实践。
维多利亚州的三级心理健康服务机构被有目的地招募，通过滚雪球的方式补充招募。参与者回答了一份定制的调查，包括开放和封闭的问题，旨在根据以前的研究对实践进行基准测试，并探索早期职业心理健康职业治疗师的当前实践。有 13 个服务机构参与了调查，受访者包括高级临床医生、联合健康首席执行官、联合健康临床教育工作者和早期职业发展计划协调员。
参与者确认了发展计划对早期职业心理健康职业治疗师的价值；然而，开发、实施和维持这些支持的资源有限。计划内容、结构和术语差异很大，参与者要达到的确定能力也不同。这种变异性的一些原因与计划的资格标准和组织内的早期职业劳动力结构有关。
早期职业心理健康职业治疗师的发展应适应其当地服务环境。从个人和服务的角度更好地了解这些计划对早期职业职业治疗师的影响，也可以为这种有价值的劳动力发展方法的持续资源提供更坚实的理由和基础。
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