Occupational Therapy and The Americans with Disabilities Act: Examining Practitioners’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Implementation

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the current level of understanding regarding Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provisions among occupational therapy practitioners and re-examine previous research to identify changes in attitude, knowledge, or implementation in a current sample. Methods: A stratified random survey design was used with recruitment from members of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) based on the relevant treatment population. Two existing surveys were combined to assess occupational therapist's attitudes, knowledge, and implementation. Demographics and preferred resources were also collected. Results were compared for items replicated from a previous study to identify changes in key variables over time. Results: Therapists (n = 291) who completed the survey had a mean of 25+11 years of experience. Most participants agreed or strongly agreed that the ADA was important for clients and that therapists' roles included advocacy, empowerment, and client education about the ADA. Compared to the previous sample, there was a significant increase in the proportion of correct responses to knowledge questions (p [less-than] .05). Additionally, there was significant agreement with attitude statements regarding therapists' role in advocacy and client empowerment. However, implementation frequency did not significantly increase for most education or advocacy activities. Conclusion: This study found a significant increase in ADA Title III knowledge but minimal increases in the reported frequency of implementation in clinical practice. Nearly all therapists agree that ADA education and advocacy are part of occupational therapy's scope. Though increasing knowledge is encouraging, therapists have significant gaps in areas of importance to occupational therapy clients, including employment protections and recent provisions. Therefore, the challenge remains of translating positive attitudes and knowledge into action in clinical practice.