Specialty level II fieldwork in low vision rehabilitation
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Published on: February 11, 2014
1Occupational Therapy Department, University of Scranton, Scranton, PA 18510, USA. julie.nastasi@gmail.com
Objective:
Low vision rehabilitation is an emerging practice area for the field of occupational therapy. As a result there is a need to develop tools and training for fieldwork educators in this practice area.
Participants:
Occupational therapists with no experience in low vision rehabilitation participated in the pilot of the tools and training developed.
Method:
A literature review was completed in the areas of low vision rehabilitation and fieldwork education. Additional evidence was gathered for relevant training modules, methods, and organizational training and development tools. A best-practice model for specialty Level II fieldwork in low vision rehabilitation was then developed for a partnering site. Best-practice was defined as the triangulation of the research evidence, consensus from a panel of occupational therapists with specialty certification in low vision (SCLV) and academic fieldwork coordinators, and feedback from the partnering site.
Results:
After three training sessions, the occupational therapists were able to achieve entry-level practice using the model developed.
Conclusion:
While the model was not intended for training therapists it proved successful with the occupational therapists trained with it. Therefore, it is expected that an occupational therapy student, completing a third specialty placement in low vision rehabilitation, would achieve this status during the twelve-week fieldwork placement.
