Developing and maintaining community partnerships within "a scholarship of practice"

Area of Science:

• Occupational Therapy
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Higher Education Models

Background:

• The need for integrated education, research, and service delivery in occupational therapy.
• Contextual influences necessitating a new faculty model.
• Challenges in traditional academic-community partnerships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the application of the "Scholarship of Practice" model.
• To outline the development and adoption of this model by occupational therapy faculty.
• To detail the strategies for successful community-based organization partnerships.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of the "Scholarship of Practice" model.
• Formation and maintenance of partnerships with community-based organizations.
• Analysis of contextual influences and faculty actions.

Main Results:

• Successful application of the "Scholarship of Practice" model.
• Identification of key principles for sustaining community partnerships.
• Demonstration of benefits across education, research, and service delivery.

Conclusions:

• The "Scholarship of Practice" model effectively integrates academic and community missions.
• Strategic partnerships enhance occupational therapy education, research, and service.
• The model provides a framework for academic institutions to engage with communities.