Therapists' perceptions of pediatric occupational therapy interventions in self-care.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the congruence between pediatric occupational therapists' self-care interventions and occupational therapy's philosophical base, which focuses on performance of self-care skills as primary in evaluation and intervention. METHOD: A questionnaire was mailed to 252 therapists serving children ages birth to 6 years. The questionnaire asked for therapists' perceptions about the importance, uniqueness, and frequency of 10 areas of intervention, including self-care. RESULTS: Perceived importance of self-care was found to be strongly related to perceived frequency of self-care intervention. Practice setting was significantly associated with perceptions of uniqueness of self-care, and team membership status was significantly associated with importance of self-care. Most respondents perceived self-care intervention to be important (86%) and unique (80%) to occupational therapy. Seventy percent regularly provided intervention for self-care. CONCLUSIONS: The therapists' perceptions reflected continued regard for self-care as an important and unique area of pediatric occupational therapy but were somewhat discrepant with the actual frequency of self-care interventions.