Article

The aim of this qualitative study was to identify and analyse the experiences of
Swedish local health authority occupational therapists with regard to their
participation in, and the implementation of, research. Data were collected from
three focus-group interviews, with five different occupational therapists in
each. The interviews were taped and transcribed and thereafter analysed using
broad coding. One core category-"feeling professionally competent"-emerged,
comprising three subcategories: "perceiving congruence between research and
practice", "having the necessary skills", and "making a contribution". Feeling
professionally competent embraces the occupational therapists' definition and
delimitation of their professional domain and the obligations related to this. It
also embraces the perception of having the skills necessary for participating in
research projects and implementing research findings in a scientific manner. The
implementation of research was not only perceived as contributing to the
knowledge base of the profession, but personal gains could also be made. The
knowledge gained from this study can help in the development of strategies to
promote the integration of research in local authority occupational therapy
practice. This is necessary; otherwise the occupational therapy provided will be
based on the knowledge and perceptions of individual professionals, rather than
on state-of-the-art knowledge gained through research.

Langue : ANGLAIS