title: Communities of practice: Exploring enablers and barriers with school health clinicians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is imperative that therapists keep pace with relevant knowledge and reflect on their practice. Community of practice (CoP) sessions provide clinicians with a forum to share stories, exchange information, and foster scholarly practice. Studies on CoPs in health care are limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to explore the enablers and barriers to participation in CoPs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Occupational therapists and physiotherapists in a school health program participated in a questionnaire (n=18) and semi-structured interviews (n=14). Analyses were completed using descriptive statistics (questionnaires) and interpretative phenomenological analysis (interviews).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six themes describing participation in CoPs emerged: structure-engagement, learning, growth-becoming, fellowship-belonging, implementation-doing, and contributing-influencing. The findings highlight the importance of situated learning, reflection, and creativity to influence practice through discussions of ideas, research, and resources in small supportive groups of like-minded individuals with an informal, self-directed structure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Features to consider when implementing CoPs in the workplace are discussed.
authors.forename: Gwenyth I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000193:education*; D012572:School Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Allied health personnel; Clinical competence; Community networks; Evidence-based practice; Learning