Formation and practice of occupational therapist who uses assistive technology as a therapeutic resource

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present and discuss the formation and practiceof the occupational therapist that works with the assistive technology investigating theiracademic, theoretical foundation and practices adopted by occupational therapists about evaluationand implementation of assistive technology resources. It was developed a transversal exploratorystudy using a questionnaire composed by fourty one questions. The data through the questionnairewere sistematized and analyzed using the somatory of the data and it was discussed by thecategorization of the questionnaire themes. The questionnaires were given to fourteen occupationaltherapists that worked directly with assistive technology resources related to people with physicaldisabilities. The outcomes showed that the occupational therapists in this study presented a gapmainly in the training programme, in the professional qualifi cation and knowledge divulgationtrough researches related to the issue of assistive technology. In relation to the practice of thesetherapists it was found a coherence between to evaluate and the implementation of the assistivetechnology resources acording with the theorical concepts and that the commercial resourcesand high costs devices are being the most often indicated and utilized. Despite of these gaps theoccupational therapists wich composed this sample showed themselves like capable of indicate andimplementing the assistive technology resources on their professional practice.