Exploring Occupational Therapists' Experiences in U.S. Primary Care Settings: A Qualitative Study

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Primary Care
• Occupational Therapy

Background:

• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) promotes comprehensive primary care.
• Integrating occupational therapy (OT) into primary care aligns with these goals.
• Understanding OT practitioners' experiences is crucial for successful integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore facilitators, barriers, and recommendations for integrating occupational therapy into primary care settings.
• To capture occupational therapists' experiences and suggestions for practice in primary care.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive qualitative design.
• Semistructured interviews with licensed occupational therapists (n=7) with primary care experience.
• Deductive thematic analysis of interview data.

Main Results:

• Four themes emerged: gaining entry to the team, navigating team-based care, providing patient-centered care, and expanding national integration.
• Occupational therapists utilized skills, resources, and networks to join primary care teams.
• Participants reported contributing to positive outcomes in self-management, functional problem-solving, and behavior change.

Conclusions:

• Occupational therapy integration into primary care is an emerging practice area.
• Occupational therapists play a role in improving population health through interprofessional primary care teams.
• Findings offer insights for consistent national integration of occupational therapy in primary care.