Professional accountability in restructured contexts of occupational therapy practice

Professional standards for accountability establish essential competencies for clinical practices and provide strategies for professional advancement. This study examines the perspectives of a sample of occupational therapists on their capacity to engage in continuing education, to provide evidence-based practices and to have confidence in the effectiveness of available quality assurance mechanisms within restructured contexts of occupational therapy practice. The analysis of in-depth interviews with participants from program management, managed competition and private practice suggested three urgent needs: the development of strategies to assist therapists' translation of research evidence into clinical practices, research to determine the effectiveness of models of professional leadership within the workplace that promote professional accountability and alliances to advance policies that eliminate workplace barriers to professional accountability.