Assessing Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Entrepreneurship and the Impact of a Pilot Program on OT Entrepreneurial Readiness

Abstract

There is a need for Occupational Therapy (OT) entrepreneurship in OT practice, but few Occupational Therapists practitioners (OTPs) initiate entrepreneurship opportunities. The purpose of this study was to explore the major causes surrounding why so few OTPs venture into private practice (Coppard, 2018). The participants included OTPs and OT students who have or had a private practice and those who desire to have a private practice but have not yet started one. The study was an exploratory mix-method design, which utilized pre-and post-surveys, and a one-time, two-hour interactive live workshop. The survey questions detailed the psychological and performance components of entrepreneur readiness. Surveys were disseminated through email and social media with prior consent. Once the presurvey results were received and analyzed, a pilot program via an interactive workshop was developed and implemented to address psychological and performance barriers to increase readiness. Once participants completed the workshop, a post-survey was administered to determine if there was an increase in entrepreneur readiness (Adeniyi, Derera & Gamede, 2022). The results of the study showed an increase in the importance of psychological readiness and the realization that most participants did not realize they were not as ready as they had envisioned based on specific personality and character traits. The study also revealed that most participants did not realize that they had learned certain aspects of business management and health insurance fundamentals but were not taught the essentials for starting a business and getting paid through health insurance reimbursements. Results also indicated that the intervention, OT to OT Entrepreneur Workshop, made a positive impact on participants in the areas of self-efficacy, technical knowledge, and beliefs about entrepreneurship. The study was meant to serve as a starting point to discover what is needed to increase the percentages of OT practitioners becoming OT entrepreneurs (OTE) so that a variety of traditional and non-traditional OT services can be offered within the community to increase physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being. In addition, the study was meant to increase the OTPs’ ability to practice more comprehensively according to the OT Scope of Practice, to increase autonomy, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction and decrease burnout (AOTA, 2021; Adeniyi, Derera & Gamede, 2022; Anderson & Nelson, 2011; Park, 2021; Stoffel, 2017). The study outcomes will guide the researcher in developing a complete comprehensive readiness program to increase OT entrepreneurship.