OT Month! Summary September 2022 Council Open Forum & CAOT Update

Happy Occupational Therapy Month!

Happy Occupational Therapy Month! Stayed tuned for videos and shareable materials celebrating all that Occupational Therapists do!  #otmonth #occupationaltherapy

ACOT’s Registrar, Marianne Baird, speaks to the work by ACOT to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in occupational therapy. Click the photo below to learn more, and resources like the AARI Final Report can be found at https://acot.ca/serving-the-public/anti-racism-equity-and-inclusion/

Click photo to watch the video.

Summary September 2022 Council Open Forum

ACOT updates:

  • We continue working on a refresh of the Standards of Practice, Code of Ethics, and Bylaws as per the requirements of Bill 46.
  • The National eLearning modules will be available shortly. There will be an eNews sent out when they are ready.
  • We are working with the University of Alberta’s Rehabilitation Research Center for analysis of ACOT’s aggregate continuing competence program data.

OTs at the Open Forum shared that some had the flexibility of working from home, while another school-based OT noticed more parents have turned to home schooling, and their children do not have access to the same services as those still in the schools. There was also frustration expressed with navigating differences between ACOT guidelines and those from other Colleges. One OT noted that in seniors homes they are still working with a mask mandate and point of care risk assessments.

A question-and-answer session followed:

Q: How many eLearning modules will be coming out before the new registration year?

A: Just the one. This year it is on competencies. Next year ACOT will be circling back for registrants to re-take the Protecting Patients Against Sexual Abuse and Misconduct module and acting against racism and intolerance related courses will be provided in the future.

Q: In the USA, for example, they have a credit system for continuing competence hours based on courses taken. Is this a possibility for ACOT?

A: ACOT’s Competence Committee conducted a literature review in 2019 that showed taking courses did not necessarily show an effect on practice, however self-reflection on learnings has a positive impact on practice. Therefore, ACOT uses self-reflection rather than tracking course credit hours.

CAOT Update

You can find the CAOT September Update here.