Political Advocacy in Occupational Therapy: A Professional Imperative
This study conducted interviews with occupational therapists to report on their perceptions of political advocacy. The interviews identified three key ways that advocacy fundamentally benefits OT: It helps practitioners fight for clients’ access to quality care; it advances the profession itself; and it can continually influence policy changes. But how can OTs find the time, and the space, to advocate? Quotes from interviewees bring the abstract down to the clinic level.
Can You Hear Me, Now?
In this inspirational piece, the author details how one crucial act, performed when she was a child by an occupational therapist, formed her entire life path. It was the simple act of teaching her how to hold a pencil in her hand to write. Fast forward to today, and Katherine Magnoli is a writer, a teacher, and an author of children’s books designed to help them choose their own unique career paths.
We Are All Missing Something: A Meditation on Amputation, Constraints, and Creativity
This brilliant Perspective raises a profound question: what if ‘disability’ is simply one point on a spectrum of constraints that inspire creativity in every person on earth? The author states, “…I struggle to know at what point I qualified in the minds of others as ‘disabled.’” He presents a powerful argument for focusing on what humans can do, and not on what may constrain us at any given point in our lives. A poetic must-read.
Thinking Through Making
As this author poured through the data from a study of 30 stroke survivors, she found she “couldn’t move past the emotion present in the text.” The study sought to understand factors affecting success in an OT program. But the words of the interviewees went far deeper. To attempt to fully understand their realities, she turned to her own creative core—quilting—and translated black-and-white data points into the living colors of individual emotions.
Call for Submissions: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest 2025-26
Call for Submissions: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest 2025-26 In collaboration with the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (JHR) advocates for the importance of the humanities, ethics, and professionalism in physical therapy education practice because excellent clinical practice requires the ability to make meaningful connections with patients and to […]
Call for Submissions: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest 2017-18
Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest In collaboration with the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Download the article (PDF) The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation (JHR) advocates for the importance of the humanities, ethics, and professionalism in physical therapy education practice because excellent clinical practice requires the ability to make meaningful connections with patients and […]
Call for Submissions: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest 2018-19
Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest In collaboration with the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Download the article (PDF) The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation (JHR) advocates for the importance of the humanities, ethics, and professionalism in physical therapy education practice because excellent clinical practice requires the ability to make meaningful connections with patients and […]
Call for Submissions: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest 2019-20
Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest In collaboration with the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Download the article (PDF) The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation (JHR) advocates for the importance of the humanities, ethics, and professionalism in physical therapy education practice because excellent clinical practice requires the ability to make meaningful connections with patients and […]
Call for Submissions: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest 2022-2023
Physical Therapy Student Essay Contest In collaboration with the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Download the article (PDF) The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation (JHR) advocates for the importance of the humanities, ethics, and professionalism in physical therapy education practice because excellent clinical practice requires the ability to make meaningful connections with patients and […]
The Advancing Accessibility and Disability Equity Summit: An Introduction and Reflection on Key Take-Aways
In her introduction to this special issue, Amanda Sharp, PT, DPT, PhD, presents a detailed report of how the Advancing Accessibility and Disability Equity Summit was envisioned and then brought to fruition. Sharp presents a day-by-day account of the Summit’s presentations, panel discussions, roundtables, and more. Her detailed recounting of the event offers a blueprint for other educators and practitioners seeking to develop their own forums on disability and inclusion. “All are invited to reconsider disability within and external to physical therapy,” she states.