INSIGHT INTO THE INDIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PRACTICES

Objective: To obtain an insight into the present situation of Occupational Therapy as a profession in India. considering the professional experiences, documentation, and availability of Occupational therapy resources. Design: The online survey was conducted using a single-phase, cross-sectional design. Participants: Convenience sampling, Occupational Therapy Professionals, having a minimum of 6 months working experience. Approximately 1700+ potential respondents were approached via social media and E-mails. Only 60 responses were recorded, however, out of 60, three responses did not meet the inclusion criteria, and 1 response because of deliberately misleading details was excluded, therefore leaving only 56 responses for consideration. The primary outcome measure was to report about the present scenario in occupational therapy practices in India and to understand the current occupational therapy industry across India. Result: After analyzing responses findings were that Occupational Therapy practices in the country were skewed to domains of pediatrics. SOAP notes were chosen as leading methods of documentation, and a large number of Occupational therapy professionals felt that there is scarcity and lacunae in the availability and provision of Occupational therapy equipment and prescription aid in their regions, in India, and also on online market palaces. Conclusion: In a country like India, the skewing of most of the Occupational therapy professionals to domains of ‘pediatrics’ and ‘rehabilitation & disability may be a major cause in restriction of growth of profession on whole. Also, introducing Occupational Therapy assistants in the Indian Context should be considered for the growth of the profession and to concord with WFOT's QI framework. URL: https://www.ijsr.net/get_abstract.php?paper_id=SR21922211507