Gwenyth I Roberts.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is imperative that therapists keep pace with relevant knowledge and reflect on their practice. Community of practice (CoP) sessions provide clinicians with a forum to share stories, exchange information, and foster scholarly practice. Studies on CoPs in health care are limited.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the enablers and barriers to participation in CoPs.
METHOD: Occupational therapists and physiotherapists in a school health program participated in a questionnaire (n=18) and semi-structured interviews (n=14). Analyses were completed using descriptive statistics (questionnaires) and interpretative phenomenological analysis (interviews).
FINDINGS: Six themes describing participation in CoPs emerged: structure-engagement, learning, growth-becoming, fellowship-belonging, implementation-doing, and contributing-influencing. The findings highlight the importance of situated learning, reflection, and creativity to influence practice through discussions of ideas, research, and resources in small supportive groups of like-minded individuals with an informal, self-directed structure. IMPLICATIONS: Features to consider when implementing CoPs in the workplace are discussed. © CAOT 2015.
BACKGROUND: It is imperative that therapists keep pace with relevant knowledge and reflect on their practice. Community of practice (CoP) sessions provide clinicians with a forum to share stories, exchange information, and foster scholarly practice. Studies on CoPs in health care are limited.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the enablers and barriers to participation in CoPs.
METHOD: Occupational therapists and physiotherapists in a school health program participated in a questionnaire (n=18) and semi-structured interviews (n=14). Analyses were completed using descriptive statistics (questionnaires) and interpretative phenomenological analysis (interviews).
FINDINGS: Six themes describing participation in CoPs emerged: structure-engagement, learning, growth-becoming, fellowship-belonging, implementation-doing, and contributing-influencing. The findings highlight the importance of situated learning, reflection, and creativity to influence practice through discussions of ideas, research, and resources in small supportive groups of like-minded individuals with an informal, self-directed structure. IMPLICATIONS: Features to consider when implementing CoPs in the workplace are discussed. © CAOT 2015.
Keywords:
Allied health personnel; Clinical competence; Community networks; Evidence-based practice; Learning
Mesh：
Year: 2015
PMID： 26590229 DOI： 10.1177/0008417415576776
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Can J Occup Ther ISSN： 0008-4174 Impact factor: 1.614