Scholarship and Practice: Bridging the Divide

There is evidence that the growth theory and research about occupation produced by academics are not consistently translated into occupational therapy practice. Rather, practitioners often report finding such theory and research to be of limited relevance to and/or difficult to implement in their everyday work. Although many factors contribute to this academic-practice gap one important contributor is how knowledge is traditionally viewed and generated in academia. Changes in traditional views about academic knowledge and its relationship to practice both outside and within occupational therapy are discussed. Ways that occupational therapy scholarship can be more clearly grounded in everyday practice are examined drawing from experience with participatory research. Consideration is given to how researchers and practitioners might share power and have a more effective dialogue.