An investigation of occupational therapy and physiotherapy roles in a community setting

This qualitative study investigated current occupational therapy and physiotherapy practice in a community rehabilitation setting to elicit areas of role difference, skill sharing and commonality within the two professions. The study was carried out with service users (n=4), occupational therapy and physiotherapy clinicians (n=11) and therapy service managers (n=9) to try and explore as many different opinions and experiences as possible. Focus groups were used to gather the data. The findings from this study were broad ranging. Service users were frequently unable to identify the difference between occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Skill sharing and the blurring of professional boundaries between occupational therapists and physiotherapists occured on a daily basis. Interdisciplinary team working was regarded as essential for an effective needs-led service by all the participants of the study. However, despite this, it appeared that professional tribalism existed between the two professional groups, which hampered effective team working at times. There was a general feeling that increasing interprofessional education at as early a stage in undergraduate training as possible was vital and would help increase awareness of other professional roles and prepare therapists for the reality of working life.