Developing an Occupatioal Therapy study programme in Ukraine

According to the WHO there is a high need Occupational Therapists in Ukraine. The current rehabilitation workforce does not match up to international standards, due to a different accreditation system and a lack of capacity. In light of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, the need for the new curricula and workforce is even more urgent. The government provides sufficient prosthetic appliances, however nobody teaches how to use them. The patient needs to be trained to walk. Higher educational institutes play a major role in education and training of professionals. After occupational therapy is added to the national classificatory of professions, many universities in Ukraine began offering joint bachelors degrees in physical and occupational therapy. Unfortunately, none of them is equipped with the knowledge, resources, and curriculum to accurately teach the material and uphold the integrity of the profession. This has resulted in a growing number of professionals who work in the roles of occupational therapists, but oftentimes lack the professional training. In this project HEI from programme countries will support 3 Ukraine HEI’s to implement a curriculum for Occupational Therapists according to the standards of the World Organisation for Occupational Therapy. Innovative in this programme is the huge amount of practical training or internships. Therefore not only the teachers of the HEI will be trained to teach the new curriculum, also staff from hospitals and rehabilitation centers will be actively involved and trained. As they will have a crucial role as the guides and the coaches of the internship students. Also the government will be closely involved, their support is needed as they have to acknowledge the skills of this new professionals and often rehabilitation centers are public authorized, so the government decides on the profiles of the staff. There will be a dissemination to other HEI’s in Ukraine as the aim is to implement the curriculum national