EVALUATION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY AMONG CRACOW UNIVERSITIES STUDENTS

Background: The role of occupational therapy in Poland is perceived differently than in Western Europe. From 2012, in our country appeared the opportunity to study the occupational therapy based on the guidelines of the... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
The role of occupational therapy in Poland is perceived differently than in Western Europe. From 2012, in our country appeared the opportunity to study the occupational therapy based on the guidelines of the European Union, so the aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge about occupational therapy among Cracow universities students.
Method:
The study group consisted of 1408 students from the Cracow universities (839 women, 569 men). To evaluate the knowledge about occupational therapy a special questionnaire was used.
Results:
Majority of respondents 1076 (76%) declared the knowledge of occupational therapy concept. All respondents said that occupational therapist should have a knowledge of psychology (41.5%), but most of all people (34%) indicated that OT needs a specific knowledge in field of interpersonal communication. According to the respondents OT should mainly know the activity of medical institutions (38.8%) and NGO`s (39.1%), but the most detail knowledge should be connected with activity of occupational therapy workshops (42.6%). According to the respondents OT mainly works with children with Down syndrome (65.8%), elderly persons (53.7%) and people with mental disorders (44.8%). The vast majority of respondents declared the lack of knowledge about occupational therapy organizations (97.3%).
Conclusion:
Knowledge about occupational therapy among Cracow university students is closely related to the specifics role of occupational therapist in Poland.
Application to Practice:
It is advisable to continue extensive education of students in the aspect relates to the role and specifics of occupational therapy.