Perceptions regarding school-based occupational therapy for children with emotional disturbances

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Occupational Therapy
• School-Based Mental Health Services
• Child Psychology

Background:

• Children with emotional disturbances often require specialized support within educational settings.
• The role of occupational therapy in addressing the complex needs of these students is not fully established.
• Existing literature lacks consensus on effective occupational therapy interventions for emotional disturbances in schools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the perceived appropriateness, extent, and types of services occupational therapists provide to children with emotional disturbances in public schools.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to effective occupational therapy service delivery for this population.
• To inform future research and practice guidelines for school-based occupational therapy.

Main Methods:

• A national survey was distributed to randomly selected school occupational therapists.
• The survey targeted members of the American Occupational Therapy Association School System Special Interest Section.
• Data were collected from 476 respondents, representing a 48% response rate from a sampling frame of 982.

Main Results:

• 87% of surveyed occupational therapists supported school-based occupational therapy for students with emotional disturbances.
• These students constituted a small percentage of therapists' caseloads.
• Interventions frequently targeted educational areas like handwriting, with sensory integration being the most common approach.
• Many therapists felt inadequately trained to provide effective interventions for this population.

Conclusions:

• A perceived lack of training and role clarity may lead to underutilization of occupational therapy for children with emotional disturbances.
• There is a need for further professional discussion and research to establish consensus on appropriate and effective school-based occupational therapy approaches.
• Optimizing occupational therapy services requires addressing knowledge gaps and defining the scope of practice for students with emotional disturbances.