Course Descriptions

SAR OT944: Needs Assessment and Program Development

This course will introduce students to methods of assessing how occupation contributes to health and well-being among populations and   will provide opportunities to develop and practice needs assessment skills. Students will learn how to access and analyze large data sets to examine whether a health problem in a community warrants occupational therapy intervention. Students will conduct a needs assessment of a population and develop a proposal for occupational therapy intervention to address the identified needs. (Credits: 4 online)

SAR OT945: Clinical Theory Development and Analysis

This course is designed to help students think critically about the ways in which theories and models are used to guide clinical practice. In particular, students will examine the distinction between models of function and disablement and theories of how change occurs as a result of intervention, as well as how these models may or may not be related. Students will examine how theories and models describe or explain a phenomenon at different levels of analysis and the types of scientific evidence required to support or refute the propositions reflected in clinical models and theories. Students examine the contrasting views of mechanistic, organismic, and contextual models, and contemporary expressions of these approaches in the clinical theories. The course investigates explanatory models of change through a critical examination of the theoretical bases of intervention approaches in occupational therapy. Students examine in depth a theory relevant to their doctoral project. Students will complete the first Doctoral Project Task: articulate a concise and clear model of a clinical problem that reflects current theory and best evidence.  (Credits: 4 online)