Author/Authors :
Schulze, Christina SchoolofHealthProfessions - InstituteofOccupationalTherapy - ZurichUniversityofAppliedSciencesSwitzerland - Winterthur, Switzerland , Kaelin , Vera C. SchoolofHealthProfessions - InstituteofOccupationalTherapy - ZurichUniversityofAppliedSciencesSwitzerland - Winterthur, Switzerland , Stalder, Cornelia Kocher SchoolofHealthProfessions - InstituteofOccupationalTherapy - ZurichUniversityofAppliedSciencesSwitzerland - Winterthur, Switzerland , Echsel , Angelika SchoolofHealthProfessions - InstituteofOccupationalTherapy - ZurichUniversityofAppliedSciencesSwitzerland - Winterthur, Switzerland , Ray-Kaeser , Sylvie DepartmentofOccupationalTherapy - SchoolofSocialWork&HealthSciences - EESP - UniversityofAppliedSciencesandArtsof WesternSwitzerland - Lausanne , Switzerland , Moioli, Stefania DepartmentofBusinessEducation - HealthandSocialCare - UniversityofAppliedSciencesofSouthernSwitzerland - Manno6928, Switzerland , Santinelli , Lietta CentroErgoterapiaPediatricaCEP - Bellinzona6500, Switzerland
Abstract :
TheshifttowardsinclusiveeducationinmanyEuropeancountrieshasledtostructuralchangesthataffectbothschoolsandtheir
relatedprofessionalsaimingtosupportchildren’sparticipation.WhilemostEuropeancountriesacknowledgeinclusiveeducation
anditsneed,seriouschallengesexisttoitsimplementationatanationalandlocalcommunitylevel.Interdisciplinarycollaboration,
includinghealthandeducationalprofessionals,isseenasanimperativekeyprincipleforinclusiveeducationservices.Tolearn
abouttheoccupationaltherapist’scontributiontoinclusiveeducation,theaimofthisstudywastodescribethestateoftheartof
occupationaltherapists’collaborationandservicesdeliveryinSwissschools.Usinganexploratory,cross-sectionalstudydesign,
aweb-basedsurveywassentto509occupationaltherapistsinSwitzerlandresultingin302responsesfordataanalysisusing
descriptivestatistics.Findingsshowthatnearlyallparticipants(97%)collaboratewithschools,and49%ofparticipantsprovided
directserviceswithinamainstreamschoolsetting.Theseservicesweremainlyfundedbyhealthinsuranceandfocusedon
physicalandsocialenvironmentaladaptations.Despitereportedcollaborationbetweenoccupationaltherapistsandschools,
thisstudyshowsaneedforchangesinfederalhealthandeducationlegislationaswellasinnovativesolutionsforservice
deliveryinschools
Keywords :
Occupational Therapy Practice , Mainstream Schools , Online Survey , Switzerland
