Scientific Skills Training for Occupational Therapy Professionals Delivered Through Private Occupational Therapy Clinics and Educational Platforms

Knowledge Offer, Oferta Tecnológica

Salud y Biomedicina

5 October 2026

Scientific Skills Training for Occupational Therapy Professionals Delivered Through Private Occupational Therapy Clinics and Educational Platforms.

This professional training service in scientific skills, aimed at occupational therapy professionals, will provide these professionals with tools to incorporate standardised assessments and interventions based on the most up-to-date scientific evidence into their daily practice. The service aims to provide an innovative approach to this type of training by involving specialists in occupational therapy research and lecturers from Miguel Hernández University. It also seeks to develop these skills through a practical approach and personalised training focused on the needs of learners. This service will provide clinics and educational platforms with a new service, currently unavailable on the market, to add to their portfolio, generating additional revenue. It may also increase the visibility of their organisation among professionals in this field.

TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

Due to the relatively short history of occupational therapy research, a significant lack of scientific skills has been identified as a major need among professionals in this field. This undoubtedly makes it more difficult to conduct their own research or to use existing research in their daily practice. In fact, some scientific studies have shown that a lack of scientific skills, together with a lack of institutional support, insufficient time and limited proficiency in English, also influence the implementation of evidence-based practice (searching for, evaluating and applying the most up-to-date research to interventions based on user preferences, professional expertise and available resources).

TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS

To address this issue, the Occupational Therapy Research Group (InTeO) at Miguel Hernández University aims to offer a package of scientific skills courses (formulating questions, searching for scientific articles, writing hypotheses and objectives, selecting the appropriate methodology, analysing study data, writing research projects and articles, and critically appraising current evidence) to support evidence-based occupational therapy interventions. The use of evidence-based occupational therapy interventions will undoubtedly contribute to improving the care provided to users, incorporating user preferences into treatment decisions and reducing healthcare or personal costs associated with unnecessary techniques. This service also aims to adopt a highly practical methodology, using real occupational therapy cases and teaching staff with extensive experience in delivering these subjects, together with individualised support. The courses will be delivered asynchronously to adapt to professionals’ schedules.
Furthermore, the service initially aims to be offered to occupational therapy clinics in the province of Alicante, which will benefit from additional revenue and, undoubtedly, greater visibility due to the innovative nature of the proposal.
At present, the service is at an initial stage, in which we aim to identify the needs perceived by occupational therapy professionals in order to integrate evidence-based practice into their daily work. Based on this information, we will design a package of 8 online training courses, each comprising 25 hours of training, to develop these scientific skills. Once the courses have been defined, they will be co-created with occupational therapists and the directors of several occupational therapy clinics in the province of Alicante. We also still need to design the materials and activities for this package. In addition, we will design tools to identify gaps and user needs, as well as a learner follow-up plan. To date, we have identified two potential clinic directors who could offer this service, and we have already held an initial meeting with one of them, who expressed strong interest in the service.

ADVANTAGES AND INNOVATIVE ASPECTS

What makes this service different is its innovative nature, as this type of specialised training is not currently available on the market. We also aim to provide personalised training in terms of scheduling and specific training needs, drawing on experience in occupational therapy research and the expertise of a prestigious higher education institution.

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

Initially, we will start with two clinics in the province of Alicante, but the service could be offered in any Spanish-speaking country. It could also be offered to professional associations, private or public institutions offering occupational therapy degree programmes, and professional organisations.
In addition, similar packages could be developed for other healthcare professionals. The service is also scalable, as complementary consultancy services or specific research activities, such as statistical analysis or project writing, could be offered.

APPLICATION SECTORS

  • Private Occupational Therapy Clinics.
  • Online Training Platforms (EdTech).
  • Professional Associations and Occupational Therapists’ Associations.
  • Public and Private Higher Education Institutions.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Eva María Navarrete Muñoz – Department of Pathology and Surgery