Acting as Change Agents: Insight Into Québec Occupational Therapists’ Current Practice: Actions menées à titre d’agents de changement : aperçu des pratiques actuelles parmi les ergothérapeutes du Québec

Carrier, Annie; Éthier, Alexandra; Beaudoin, Michaël; Hudon, Anne; Bédard, Denis; Jasmin, Emmanuelle; Verville, France

BACKGROUND. Change agents’ actions have been studied mainly from a theoretical perspective. PURPOSE. This study aimed to empirically identify occupational therapists’ actual change agent actions. METHOD. As part of a research partnership with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists-Québec chapter, we conducted this cross-sectional pilot study using an online survey. FINDINGS. The change agent practices of our 103 participants involve many types of actions but show underinvestment in mass communication. Mass communication actions are more frequent when participants have greater experience, additional academic degrees, and training in change agency. Also, occupational therapists with additional academic degrees and change agency training tend to use a wider variety of actions. Finally, our participants’ actions principally target actors in the clinical context, rarely political actors. IMPLICATIONS. Our results suggest that occupational therapists can and will invest in the full range of change agent actions provided they can acquire the necessary knowledge and skills.