2011, Vol.19, No.1

Korean Journal of Occupational Therapy 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.81

pISSN : 1226-0134 / eISSN : 2671-4450
https://journal.kci.go.kr/kjot

Objective : The aim of this study was to determine the main job tasks in clinical practice in terms of their criticality and frequency. The findings analyzed here will be offered appropriately as basic data for occupational therapy education, field work, and the national licensing examination. Methods : This survey was conducted from December 2008 to April 30, 2010. Four-hundred and forty-two occupational therapists from 114 institutions participated. A job analysis was applied toward the criticality of each job and its frequency. In analyzing the data, the criticality of the occupational erapists’tasks and task elements, and their mean frequency and priority, were investigated, as were their core tasks and core task elements. Results : In order of criticality among the therapist’s duties,“ occupational therapy”was recognized as most important, and “patient evaluation”was most frequently conducted. In terms of criticality and frequency, there were 16 core tasks and 94 core task elements over the mean points. When comparing therapists on their first appointment with those with experience, differences in criticality were shown in 2 tasks, and differences in frequency were shown in 7 tasks. Given their different treatment areas, 8 and 13 differences were shown respectively in the areas of physical disabilities, children, and juveniles. Conclusion : This study showed that education should be prioritized in therapy and field work. The results of this study will also be useful in providing basic data for the national licensing examination.

This study was conducted to find a way to improve mental health service system in Korea by investigating the current status of mental health service system and compare it with that of other countries. The Mental Health Act was legislated in 1995 to prevent the onset of mental disorders and mandate the psychiatric service and rehabilitation for people with mental disorders. It has been revised four times since then. The most recent Mental Health Act revised in 2008 added(article46-2) occupational therapy service to promote human rights and warrant the legitimacy of occupational therapy in mental health service. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea administered on site inspection of seven mental health institutions (3public and 4 private) between October and December 2008 and reported the followings: absence or shortage of occupational therapy services, insufficient evaluation process, lack of treatment plans and daily log of occupational therapy, and human rights violation under the name of occupational therapy (i.e., cleaning nursing stations, toilets and taking care of severely disabled persons). These resulted from inappropriate use of the term“ occupational therapy”in Korean in the Mental Health Act contradicting between parent law and subordinate law allowing occupational therapy service be provided by unqualified personnel. Therefore, the current Mental Health Act has to be revised to include the definition of occupational therapy and job description of occupational therapist to protect the human rights of the clients and assure high quality services. Once the institutional framework is established, the professional role of occupational therapists can be expected in mental health service

Objective : This study aimed to survey and analyze the research literature of Korean occupational therapy in order to identify the comprehensive trends and actual state of occupational therapy research. Methods : Articles published between 1993 (the first issue of the Journal of Korean Society of Occupational Therapy) and 2010 were surveyed, and a descriptive analysis was used to determine the types, topics, study designs, subjects, and intervention methods of the articles. Results : The analysis outcomes of the articles published in the Journal of Korean Society of Occupational Therapy were as follows: (1) The main topic areas were adult and geriatric disorders, (2) the diagnoses were stroke and cerebral palsy, (3) the highest percentage of research in terms of quality classification was level-4 (survey and non-randomized experimental study), and (4) independent variables addressed were the largest frequency of visuoperceptual and cognitive training, with the following sequence of sensory integration therapy and constraint induced movement therapy. Dependent variables were mostly for activities of daily living, followed by visuoperception, behavioral change, and swallowing functionality. Conclusion : Based on these results, further studies are warranted for research topics targeting the highest value in a variety of study populations. Scholarship should be focused on a research design that establishes evidence for occupational therapy approaches and practices.