Russell K V, Kanny E M
Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Am J Occup Ther. 1998 Feb;52(2):118-24. doi: 10.5014/ajot.52.2.118.
This study examined the use of aides in occupational therapy practice, the supervision and training of aides, and practitioners' attitudes toward the use of aides.
A questionnaire was mailed to a systematically selected sample of 510 occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. The response rate was 74%.
The use of occupational therapy aides is prevalent in a variety of settings. Forty percent of respondents reported that they currently work with aides, whereas 23% reported that they have never worked with aides. Occupational therapy aides perform a variety of tasks and receive various levels and amounts of supervision and training. Of those respondents who delegated specific skilled tasks to aides, 76% reported daily contact for purposes of supervision and training. Nineteen percent who currently work or have worked with aides reported being in a situation where an ethical issue arose related to aide use.
On the basis of the data, it is suggested that occupational therapy practitioners would benefit from taking a proactive role in determining how aides can be used to maximize service delivery while maintaining quality services. There also appear to be ethical concerns related to appropriate delegation of tasks to aides and to their supervision and training.
本研究调查了辅助人员在职业治疗实践中的使用情况、对辅助人员的监督和培训，以及从业者对使用辅助人员的态度。
向系统选取的510名职业治疗师和职业治疗助理样本邮寄了一份问卷。回复率为74%。
职业治疗辅助人员的使用在各种环境中都很普遍。40%的受访者表示他们目前与辅助人员合作，而23%的受访者表示他们从未与辅助人员合作过。职业治疗辅助人员执行各种任务，并接受不同程度和数量的监督和培训。在那些将特定技能任务委托给辅助人员的受访者中，76%的人表示为了监督和培训目的进行日常接触。目前正在与辅助人员合作或曾经与辅助人员合作过的受访者中有19%表示曾遇到与使用辅助人员相关的伦理问题。
根据数据表明，职业治疗从业者若能积极主动地确定如何利用辅助人员来在维持优质服务的同时最大限度地提供服务，将会从中受益。在将任务适当委托给辅助人员以及对他们的监督和培训方面似乎也存在伦理问题。
