Dawar Dimple, Kamalakannan Sureshkumar, Chockalingam Manigandan, Bosch Jackie, Turkstra Lyn, Pandian Jeyaraj Durai, Mani Karthik
Department of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Department of Neurology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
Indian J Occup Ther. 2024 Oct;56(4):107-119. doi: 10.4103/ijoth.ijoth_72_24. Epub 2025 Jul 11.
Competency is the ability to apply knowledge and skills efficiently to achieve required outcomes, typically measured through performance. Professional competency standards in healthcare describe the specific knowledge, skills, and attributes required for practice. In India, the occupational therapy (OT) profession is gaining recognition, highlighting a need for national competency standards to improve quality of care and professional visibility.
The overall aim of this study is to create a draft set of professional competency standards for occupational therapists in India by reviewing, synthesizing, and adapting existing competencies published in other parts of the world.
Formative research design involving document analysis of global competency standards and an adaptive process in collaboration with the Indian Occupational Therapists Think Tank (IOTTT) to develop a draft set of professional competency standards for Indian OTs.
An iterative Delphi process was used. An Expert Working Group (EWG) was formed with three IOTTT executive members. A document analysis was conducted to gather and critically analyze existing OT competency standards. Competency documents were identified from professional associations and regulatory bodies worldwide. The analysis followed the framework method, involving a series of steps to extract and analyze data to create a draft set of competency standards for Indian OTs. The coadaptation process included individual reviews, scoring, and review meetings with the EWG.
Document analysis revealed 31 OT competency standards, with 12 meeting the inclusion criteria, including documents from Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mauritius, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. After the iterative decision-making process, a draft set identified 15 competency domains, 97 competency standards, and 2 61 competency indicators, including essential competencies across various aspects of OT practice.
We prepared the draft set of Indian OT competency standards that reflected global practices and adapted to the Indian context. The next steps are further refinement of the document with iterative feedback from other IOTTT members and contributing OTs, followed by a collaboration with the All-India Occupational Therapy Association for endorsement and implementation, ensuring relevance to the Indian context.
能力是有效应用知识和技能以实现所需结果的能力，通常通过表现来衡量。医疗保健领域的专业能力标准描述了实践所需的特定知识、技能和特质。在印度，职业治疗（OT）专业正在获得认可，这凸显了制定国家能力标准以提高护理质量和专业知名度的必要性。
本研究的总体目标是通过审查、综合和调整世界其他地区公布的现有能力标准，为印度的职业治疗师创建一套专业能力标准草案。
形成性研究设计，包括对全球能力标准的文献分析以及与印度职业治疗师智囊团（IOTTT）合作开展的适应性过程，以制定一套针对印度职业治疗师的专业能力标准草案。
采用迭代德尔菲法。由三名IOTTT执行成员组成一个专家工作组（EWG）。进行文献分析以收集并批判性地分析现有的职业治疗能力标准。从全球各地的专业协会和监管机构识别能力文件。分析遵循框架方法，包括一系列步骤来提取和分析数据，以创建一套针对印度职业治疗师的能力标准草案。共同适应过程包括个人审查、评分以及与EWG的审查会议。
文献分析揭示了31项职业治疗能力标准，其中12项符合纳入标准，包括来自澳大利亚、孟加拉国、加拿大、中国香港、爱尔兰、毛里求斯、荷兰、菲律宾、新加坡、瑞典、英国和美国的文件。经过迭代决策过程，草案确定了15个能力领域、97项能力标准和261项能力指标，包括职业治疗实践各个方面的基本能力。
我们制定了反映全球实践并适应印度国情的印度职业治疗能力标准草案。接下来的步骤是根据IOTTT其他成员和有贡献的职业治疗师的迭代反馈进一步完善该文件，随后与全印度职业治疗协会合作进行认可和实施，确保与印度国情相关。
