The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. The effect of occupational therapy education on students' perceived attitudes toward persons with disabilities was studied. METHOD. The perceived attitudes of 144 occupational therapy students toward persons with disabilities were measured before (retrospective pretest) and after (posttest) the students attended formal professional education at the University of Alberta. RESULTS. Posttest scores were significantly higher than the retrospective pretest scores, indicating that students' attitudes became more positive after they commenced formal professional education. The posttest scores of students at various levels of education, however, did not show any significant difference. CONCLUSION. On the basis of these observations, a positive but nonlinear relationship between occupational therapy education and attitudes toward persons with disabilities was postulated.