Whither thou goest? Report of the AOTA Task Force on OT/PT issues.
The Task Force on OT/PT Issues through its recommendations attempted to raise to the conscious level some problems that for too long lay hidden or ignored. Most of the Task Force's recommendations have been appropriately channeled for completion by a specified date. Many of the issues identified are not easy ones with which to deal. The professional involvement of all of us is needed to resolve these issues. We, as individuals, need to evaluate objectively our own daily practice about whether or not it falls within the parameters of the official statements given in the Philosophical Base, Principles of Ethics, Standards of Practice, Educational Essentials, and so forth. We cannot blithely continue to wait for the AOTA to do something about it. We are the AOTA! And each of us must do his or her part. An organization and a profession are only as strong as each individual who claims to be a part of it. I believe very strongly in both occupational therapy and physical therapy. I believe that each profession has a unique contribution to make to the client. I believe these contributions are separate but enhancing-if we dilute them the patient/client is the loser. One person cannot be all things to a patient/client. It takes the combined expertise of many specialists to meet the patients'/clients' needs. Each of us is an ambassador of the profession we represent. Each of us, therefore, has an obligation to be a positive representative in all that we do and to responsibly and ethically influence the direction of the profession. Only you and I in our daily professional responsibilities can determine whither thou goest.
D009788:Occupational Therapy; D012952:Societies / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States