WINTERFEST: Using AOTA’s Official Documents to Advocate for our Distinct Value

ON DEMAND WEBINAR

Presented by Shelley Coleman-Casto, Shelley Coleman Casto MS, OTR/L, BCP, FAOTA, CPST and Julie Malloy OTD, MOT, OTR/L, PMP, CPHQ, FNAP

1.0 Contact Hours

Description:

AOTA’s Commission on Practice (COP) serves the profession by supporting and advancing practice (AOTA, 2019a). The COP oversees the development and revision of official documents on practice related topics. There are over 30 official documents under the COP purview, including resources such as The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework 4th Edition (AOTA, 2020b), Guidelines for Documentation in Occupational Therapy (AOTA, 2018), and Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services (AOTA, 2020a). There are also documents supporting specific practice areas (AOTA, 2018). All documents are grounded in occupation based and client-centered practice, current evidence, and recognition of systems and policies (AOTA, 2020b).

Vision 2025 states OTPs must be leaders who are “…Influential in changing policies, environments, and complex systems” and provide effective services that are “…evidence based, client centered, and cost-effective” (AOTA, 2019b). Use of official documents to support and advance practice through advocacy is a concrete method of enacting Vision 2025. OTPs should be familiar with the breadth and depth of the documents to use a common language that speaks clearly to the distinct value and scope of the profession in current and emerging practice areas.

In this short course members of the COP will give an overview of the role and process of COP. A few key and recently updated documents will be discussed to provide an overview of the function of the documents within the profession. We will also discuss the revision scope and process for the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework. Case examples will be shared to highlight how documents have been used to both support and advance practice. Lastly, participants will be led through a reflective exercise to develop a personal plan for incorporating official documents to support their existing work or expand and advance practice.

Objectives:

• Participants will evaluate strategies to use the official documents to articulate the profession’s scope, support an area of practice, or address a professional advocacy opportunity
• Participants will discuss and apply new and revised practice-related official documents across practice settings.

Presenter bio:

Shelley Coleman Casto is an accomplished occupational therapist and clinical leader with over two decades of experience in pediatric practice. She currently serves as Clinical Lead for Inpatient Occupational Therapy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where she manages a team of 25 therapists across acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and behavioral health settings, and recently served as Interim Program Manager for the outpatient developmental occupational therapy team. She holds a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Indianapolis and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Capital University. Her clinical background spans pediatric inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient orthopedics, early intervention, and school-based practice, with specialized expertise in splinting, feeding, adaptive equipment, and wheelchair evaluations. Shelley is board certified in pediatrics by AOTA and has contributed to peer-reviewed publications, including case reports on pediatric COVID-19 management and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. She is an active presenter at state and national conferences, has served as a guest lecturer at The Ohio State University, and has held leadership roles in clinical fieldwork coordination and multidisciplinary program development. Shelley is licensed to practice occupational therapy in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

Hosted by OOTA