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Occupational therapy in acute care Smith-Gabai, H. (Ed.). (2011). : AOTA Press. ISBN: 978-1-56900-271-1 AOTA Online Member Price: $109.00 US Non-Member Price: $154.00 US StoreAmazon.com USD Price: $154.00 US
I am very excited to review this long awaited book from the United States of America. For a long time I believe many occupational therapists like myself, have used non-occupational therapy focused textbooks (e.g. Medicine and Physiotherapy) in their acute care practice, whilst wishing a book was available that was explicitly written to guide them to navigate the high pressure, fast paced tertiary healthcare facility from an occupational therapy perspective.
In this book Smith-Gabai (2011) clearly outlines that "working in a hospital setting can be challenging and frustrating because the environment remains predominantly hierarchical and paternalistic (with strong emphasis of a medical model)" (p. xi). Occupational therapists may often experience ambivalence about their role in the acute care setting (Griffin, 1993; Griffin & McConnell 2001) because of "the difficulty to reconcile the value of medical model system with core values of occupational therapy and the recognition engagement in meaningful and purposeful occupation is the most effective way to empower patients, facilitate independence and advance health" (SmithGabai, 2011, p. xi). Smith-Gabai positively states that the medical model can be congruent...