Educating for community-based occupational therapy practice: a demonstration project

SUMMARY This paper describes a demonstration program designed by one university Occupational Therapy program to prepare graduates to work in community-based practice settings. Faculty and students are involved in a partnership with designated community agencies to learn to assess needs, plan programs, and evaluate outcomes using a variety of research methodologies. Completion of the project is tied to the completion of a required master's degree research paper. Results of the first year of the project have been largely successful and those involved look forward to continuing the project in the future. The project is described and recommendations for change based on these results are presented.