Background: This research is nested within a larger study, called the MANA study (Meaning, Agency and Nurturing, Autonomy). Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC) has been shown to support families and their children to achieve participation-focused goals. OPC training supports allied health therapists to learn how to coach. Purpose: This study explores allied health therapist perceptions of learning and implementing OPC in their service, including their fidelity scores. Method: Realist, semi-structured interviews were completed with occupational (n=8), physio (n=1), and speech language (n=2) therapists (n=11). Questions explored the therapists’ views of learning and implementing OPC in their area of work and using OPC with their clients. Data were analysed thematically. Results: Therapists described their experiences of OPC in two phases: learning OPC and implementing OPC. The learning OPC phase included the sub-themes of needing to unlearn before learning to coach (theme 1) and actively managing learning needs (theme 2). Implementing OPC phase included the sub-themes of ‘jumping off the deep end’ (theme 3) and a widening gap between OPC and usual care (theme 4). Implications: From occupational-, physio- and speech language therapist perspectives, OPC enabled therapists to see different viewpoints and was different from normal care. However, therapists struggled with some elements of implementation in their service.
Emma Rose Bonfield Walker (Thu,) studied this question.