Learning to stand up for our professions
Learning to stand up for our professions
How can we demand conditions of practice that are compatible with our obligations, and defend the interests of the people we serve? APTS members will soon be offered a training activity on this topic.
For several years now, a number of APTS members have been wondering what more they can do to get their employer to see that their professional obligations – whether or not they are set out in a code of ethics – are in contradiction with what the employer is asking them to do. The APTS has teamed up with a research project at the Université de Sherbrooke to create specific training for professionals and technicians on this subject.
Professor Annie Carrier’s research team at the Université de Sherbrooke was the obvious choice to continue previous APTS work on the issue and develop a training program custom-designed for APTS members.
The team will be drawing inspiration from the “Agents of social change” training that Professor Carrier* provided for occupational therapists in partnership with the Québec chapter of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT). The APTS training program, geared to the realities of APTS members, will be developed as part of a research project. Preliminary work is going well.
Soon, we hope to be ready to present a plan and put out a call for candidates interested in participating in the training.
The research project’s preliminary title is: “Effects of training for agents of social change on the skills development of professionals and technicians from the health and social services system.”
Professor Carrier is conducting this project with researcher Anne Hudon, a physiotherapist and professor at the École de réadaptation, Université de Montréal, who is an advocacy expert and occupational rehabilitation specialist.
The other members of the research team are:
- Denis Bédard, professor, Département de pédagogie, Université de Sherbrooke, adult education specialist;
- Marie-Josée Drolet, occupational therapist, professor at the Département d’ergothérapie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), advocacy expert and ethicist;
- Emmanuelle Jasmin, occupational therapist, professor at the École de réadaptation, Université de Sherbrooke, advocacy expert and child services specialist;
- Michaël Beaudoin, occupational therapist, research professional at the Centre de recherche sur le vieillissement, CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, communications and marketing expert.
As part of the research project, close to 128 APTS members will be trained in two stages. A joint approach will be used to co-construct the training, based on concrete cases that APTS members encounter in their daily work. Participants will engage in role-playing in workshops, followed by discussions with the larger group and presentations of the theoretical aspects to be applied afterward.
This approach is very promising. Knowing the professional and ethical dilemmas too often faced by its members, the APTS welcomes this opportunity to help its members withstand any moves to devalue their profession.
Stay tuned for further information. The research team will be putting out a call for participants, so keep an eye out in case you’d like to sign up for the training activity.
* Annie Carrier is an occupational therapist and professor at the École de réadaptation, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, and researcher at the Centre de recherche sur le vieillissement, CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS.
