Veracity and Fidelity in OT Practice
[A NEW INFOGRAPHIC RELEASED! www.mikesyot.com]
Whew! After more than one month (finally) I have gotten the time to make another infographic/creative piece that can mirror my personal thoughts and reflections drawn from my experiences and surroundings--a way to achieve occupational balance since I consider graphic designing as a leisure activity... Anyway...
I have been quite busy in the past few weeks doing some OT-related activities including teaching, practice, and research sharing. Inevitably, I was able to meet, talk, and engage with numerous people who come from different backgrounds with different interests, causes, and agenda. And from our conversations and exchanges, I am zooming in to what most professionals (especially OTRPs) take for granted in their daily and busy practice -- the conscious application of ethical principles particularly veracity and fidelity.
With the high demand for occupational therapy services, the increasing number of people and children having special needs and disabilities requiring professional help, the increasing number of facilities (and hence, competition), the existence and proliferation of pseudo-OT practice, and the newly signed occupational therapy law among others, I have decided to create an infographic that aims to serve as a gentle reminder for us, OTRPs. This gentle reminder includes not only how we follow rules/laws/regulations, but more importantly how we practice our profession with the highest form of ethics and professionalism despite facing the abovementioned conflicts and issues.
In this inforgraphic, I have particularly defined the terms "veracity" and "fidelity" based on our association's seminal document containing our code of ethics (see cited reference). Accordingly, I have written general guidelines on how to practice each ethical principle in our daily practice whether in the clinics, hospitals, higher education institution, or any role-emerging practice setting. My personal aim is to unify the stand of OTRPs in upholding the autonomy of (and pride for) our professional practice, but at the same time, knowing our professional limitations (i.e., acknowledging that we cannot serve all and we cannot do all things and that we need others) as well as uphold a more COLLABORATIVE rather than a competitive or condescending demeanor towards our clients, peers, and organisations. In this regard, I also would like to use this platform to encourage OTRPs to reflect if they are being loyal and deliberate in promoting the use of occupation in their daily practice? A "yes" to this question makes you uphold fidelity towards our professional core principle -- promoting health through the use of occupations.
It is a fact that each OTRP is unique in his/er capacities, influences, interests, and strengths--and while this is true, conflicts among us are inevitable but must be managed and addressed in the pursuit of helping clients and communities participate and engage in meaningful and purposeful occupations, leaving behind our personal agenda.
It is not common to talk about these professional dilemmas out in the open because, as a Filipino people, we are expected to remain silent and nonchalant. But as an educator, I feel obliged to remind learners/practitioners that ethics is not just a subject in college, but a valuable competency (more valuable than our board exams to be honest) that needs to be applied daily, actively, and consciously. And I believe that using graphic arts and social media can be one of the many strategies that I can personally use to advocate for a more unified and ethically conscious Filipino OT community. :)
Please feel free to share your own thoughts and reflections on this long status/information for the sake of education, better practice, and being more ethical OTRPs.
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Disclaimer: This inforgraphic was created for information dissemination purposes by the author who used his intellectual and personal biases to interpret any of the contents here. The author’s views do not represent any of his present affiliations or any institution.
