Social and Ethical Responsibilities: In the beginning

Hello everyone! 

My name is Dr. Jerilyn Callen, OTD, OTR/L. I am an occupational therapist, a professor, an active member of the American Occupational Therapy Association, and a researcher. I am interested in maintaining and elevating my profession and improving the lives of the clients that I serve. 

I am interested in looking at the forth coming OTD mandate from a critical and balanced perspective to determine how this mandate came to be, what the history of the mandate tells us, and what the public thinks about the profession and what they would like to see. I believe to be fair and impartial takes transparency and a willingness to accept the good and bad about yourself, your research, and your profession. 

As I am new to ORAE (organizational research, assessment, and evaluation I will use a set of guiding principles put forth by a long-standing organization, the American Evaluation Association (AEA). Their mission includes standardization in practice and representation of findings, diverse and ethical practices and evaluators/evaluations, and overall transparency in all the services it provides. 

As an occupational therapist (OT) we are bound by a set of ethical standards which closely mirror those of the AEA. We believe and are committed to fidelity, ethical behavior, veracity, reliability, and transparency. 

When we look at evaluation of a particular organization or group we must first understand the basic tenants of the group. We must understand the reasoning and motivation behind it's membership and the reason it exists. What is it's purpose? Both the AEA and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) adhere to these same sorts of questions and provide opportunities for therapists/evaluators, consumers, and the general public to understand and easily find their mission. 

As I continue to take a critical look at the mandate that is coming towards the profession of OT, I intend to adhere not only to the ethical standards defined to me as an OT but also as an evaluator.