Designing international recognised curricula in Occupational Therapy

Nils Erik NessWFOT PCo Standards and QualityAssociate professor HiSTVice president Norwegian Association of Occupational Therapists

CARM seminar for OT/OT Education Internationalization July 22nd-24th Xuzhou China

Greetings and congratulations from WFOT executive management team

Content:

• Disability and rehabilitation• Occupational Therapy• Occupational Therapy Education• Advices for developing curriculum

• Usually people live in harmony with their environment, we perform daily activities, enjoy play and go to work without reflection on the complex relationship between person, environment and occupation

Disability is the gap; the mismatch between

the person and the environment

Rehabilitation is closing the gap Prevention & Health promotion is making sure

the gap does not happen

What occupational therapy may offer for rehabilitation

Occupational therapy is based on knowledge and competencies related to:

• The person function, motivation and abilities for doing

• The environment and its opportunities for occupation

• The occupation, tasks, activities and participation

Occupational therapy is based on knowledge in

Person & function• Anatomy, physiology,

biomechanics• Impairments and relevant

diseases• Psychology & PedagogicsEnvironment• Sociology and anthropology• Local/national knowledgeOccupation• Occupational Science• Occupational knowledge

Occupational therapy is based on competences in

• Occupation as media and aim for intervention• Client centeredness as fundamental principle• Understanding the relation between person,

occupation and environment• Intervention related to person, occupation and

environment (to close the gap)• Evidence based practice

Occupational therapy education must include knowledge and competences in:

• Person• Environment• Occupation

Developing international approved OT curriculum includes:

A combination of •Local/national knowledge and traditions (WFOT: Local context)•International knowledge and competencesThink Globally, Act Locally

Designing curricula is a complex process

Designing curriculaTuning advices:

• Definition of degree profile• Indication of resources• Construction of curricula; Content and structure• Programme design; Definition of learning outcomes

based on competencies• Selection of types of assessment, teaching and

learning approaches• Evaluation and improvement

See pages 69-78 in Tuning book: http://www.unideusto.org/tuningeu/images/stories/Publications/OCCUPATIONAL_THERAPY_FOR_WEBSITE.pdf

Definition of degree profile

• Local context (WFOT min Stand)• Academic level (Bachelor or

master degree?)

Indication of university resources

All educational programmes are unique due to:•Physical environment and building (eg Library)•Technological equipment and support•Social resources (Student activities and services)•Human resources (Teachers)•Collaboration with other subjects, professions, faculties and network•Local resources; fieldwork, lectureres and supervisors

Construction of curricula; Content and structure

This is the most challenging part of making a curriculum•Subject based or integrated modules?•Which sequence? (there are no perfect way)•Subjects/modules should include knowledge and competencies on:

– Person, Environment and Occupation– Client centeredness– Evidence based practice

Programme design; Definition of learning outcomes

based on competencies

• Competencies needs to be operationalised into learning outcomes for each module/subject

• Suggested Chinese competencies are already in place• Learning outcomes is based on competencies rather

than subjects, to keep the focus on the OT professional ability and performance

Selection of types of assessment, teaching and learning approaches

• Should be coherent with competencies, content and local context

Evaluation and improvement

WFOT approval

•Occupational therapy is the only health profession to have international standards for approval and quality assurance process•This is also why WFOT offer support and supervision during process of developing new programmes (like Sino-NMA-project)

Application for WFOT approval

Thee documents to be submitted to WFOT:Document 1: Local contextDocument 2: The curriculumDocument 3: Self evaluation of programme

For WFOT Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists (2002) go to: https://www.wfot.org/wfotshop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=19&cat=Education

Useful WFOT documents: http://www.wfot.org/documents.asp?cat=13

Doc 1: Advice to establish a new programme for the education of occupational

therapistsDoc 2: Process for Approval of Educational

ProgrammesDoc 3: Curriculum Approval Process

Regarding local context:China has so much to share with the rest of the world. Thank you !