The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has several publications to show all of the research being done across the country to support occupational therapy research and practice. Our article, “Collaborative health advocacy for health promotion for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities”, was recently published in the Developmental Disabilities Special Interest Section (SIS) magazine. The SIS Quarterly Practice Connections come out every three months and are meant to connect research and clinical practice, “by applying research and other evidence to occupation-centered practice” (AOTA, 2022).
Our article looks at how occupational therapists can collaborate with self-advocates to focus on activities to improve health outcomes. There are four five strategies for health promotion collaboration for OTs and self-advocates, including: (1) setting up health promotion activities in the treatment process; (2) using health narratives or other advocacy tools to use with other healthcare providers; (3) advocating for change at a population or systems-level, like legislation changes; (4) working with community organizations or groups that focus on health; (5) focusing on opportunities for accessible knowledge translation, like inclusive conferences and accessible research documents. Our lab uses Easy Read Summaries for all of our articles that talk about the main points of the article in one document. To see our Easy Read Summary for this article, click here.
A huge thank you to all of our co-authors, especially Cindy and Edward for sharing their stories and all the ways they are working to improve health for themselves and others.
To read our full article, click here.
Allison Doerpinghaus, OTD, OTR/L, is a PhD Student for the Department of Kinesiology, Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Libby Hladik, MSOT, OTR/L, is a PhD student for the Department of Kinesiology, Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Emily Satterlund, BS, is a research associate for the Department of Kinesiology, Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Cindy Bentley is Executive Director for People First in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Edward Kastern, BA, is a self-advocate and Media Production Professional in Oshkosh, WI.
Brittany St. John, MSOT, MPH, OTR/L, is a PhD student for the Department of Kinesiology, Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Karla K. Ausderau, PhD, OTR/L, is an associate professor for the Department of Kinesiology, Occupational Therapy Program, and for the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.