Service Learning

After careful observation and discussion with the staff and administration of the center, this year’s group of occupational therapy practice placement students presented ergonomics education and training. All parties felt this would be a valuable and sustainable service-learning project for the staff and administration of the center.

Students researched principles of ergonomics and developed an excellent PowerPoint presentation and practical training course to protect their backs during daily activities such as washing dishes, cleaning, working in the garden, positioning for sleep, desk work, and core strengthening exercises.

During the course they took photographs to create a poster for the facility to remind staff and administration of techniques for back safety during daily activities.

Participants compared their traditional lifting and weeding techniques with techniques taught in the course.

Discussions were lively and staff members generalized the knowledge to other activities of daily living such as bathing and laundry.

Feedback from staff and administration was excellent and we saw many more opportunities for occupational therapists to contribute to ergonomic education throughout the nation.

Occupational Therapy in Ethiopia

Currently, there are no local occupational therapy educational programs to develop the profession through the native population and there is no licensure process for occupational therapists in Ethiopia. Foreign occupational therapists serve in Ethiopia on a rotating short term volunteer basis through several organizations and programs, including ours.

We are currently working on several projects to develop capacity within Ethiopia including:

• Fieldwork/practice placement for occupational therapy students. This program was developed in collaboration with the University of Ghent in Belgium and currently includes participants from other European universities. It can be adapted to meet the needs of other occupational therapy professional educational programs and is based on evidence for tenets in transformative learning, service learning, and role emerging occupational therapy practice.
• Supervision of student research for field studies
• Development of short term (2-4 weeks) continuing educational programs for credentialed occupational therapists who are interested in a transformative, collaborative, cross cultural service learning experience
• Development of the first university level professional education program in Ethiopia

If you are interested in participating in any of our programs, please contact us!