NIDILRR ARRT Fellows: Toward a global strategy for strengthening occupational therapy workforce worldwide: a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis

Research Objectives To perform a situational assessment of the research on the occupational therapy (OT) workforce worldwide toward informing the development of a global workforce strategy endorsed by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). Design Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis derived from a multi-pronged scoping review of the OT workforce research previously published, current workforce development frameworks, and experts’ feedback. Setting Videoconferencing and written experts’ feedback on a draft SWOT analysis. Participants Key informants (n = 6) who included OT workforce researchers and human resource scholars, with representation across regions and countries of varying income levels. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Not applicable. Results Strengths included OT workforce research trends and gaps identified within and across nation types. Weaknesses included lack of uniform and readily available OT workforce datasets, a shortage of workforce research, over-reliance on descriptive and non-experimental research, under-researched topics worldwide (e.g., diversity) and in specific countries (e.g., rural workforce recruitment and retention in the USA). Opportunities included the availability of tools for strengthening the OT workforce worldwide, and increased membership from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the WFOT. Threats included substandard funding of OT workforce research compared to broader health workforce research, lack of educational capacity in LMICs, and lack of professional regulation and uniform workforce data collection in many country contexts. Conclusions This situational analysis identified the development needs for strengthening of the global OT workforce to meet high and increasing population needs. Informed by this SWOT analysis, a global OT workforce strategy is under development by the WFOT. Author(s) Disclosures No conflicts of interest declared.