A Reflection on the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture by Karen Jacobs

    Karen Jacobs, EdD, OTR/L, CPE, FAOTA. Dr. Jacobs is a Program Director and Dean for Digital Learning & Innovation at Boston University, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Jacobs has published an international journal Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation, which focuses on ergonomics and marketing. (Boston University, 2023) 

  In 2012 President Obama was re-elected for his second term. This was a big deal because he was able to continue his work on Obamacare and passing a stimulus helping people from the 2008 Great Recession, Another event that happened was the Sandy Hook Shooting. This was one of the deadliest school shooting in history. This is not a positive event that happened, but it led to a lot of change being made to protect students at school. 

    I chose this topic because I think it is important for us to continue to promote and advocate for our profession. There are a lot of people that you know who does not know what Occupational Therapy is. If we do not promote our profession than who will? 

    I think Dr. Jacobs won this award because she completely captures the importance and significance of what it mens to promote our profession. I learned about the history of promotion for our profession, and how it has drastically increased since the use of technology. There are three main ways to promote: words, images, and actions.  I learned that as an OT we should be promoting our profession through everyday activities. Some examples of that would be to tell someone about OT on the way to class, making a bulletin board on your school's lobby that shows what OT is, or by promoting on social media. I learned that through the history of our profession that promotion has been a core value, so that means that it is vital to be an advocate and promotor for our profession. The last thing I learned was that there is a framework for communicating through social media. The framework includes presence, sharing, relationships, reputation, groups, conversations, and the core framework identity. I am including a picture of the framework below. I have also included a link to a video of her lecture if you feel inclined to watch it! 

    One term Dr. Jacobs mentioned in her lecture was client-centered, and that means a practitioner is striving to put the client's interest first and effectively understanding the client as a whole person not by their diagnosis. 

Sources: 

Boston University . (n.d.). Karen Jacobs, OT, EdD, OTR, CPE, FAOTA. Boston University Sargent College | Karen Jacobs | College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.bu.edu/sargent/profile/karen-jacobs/ 

Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture: PromOTing Occupational Therapy: Words, Images & Actions. (2012). Vimeo. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://vimeo.com/45856049.

Jacobs, K. (2012). Promoting occupational therapy: Words, images, and actions. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(6), 652–671. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2012.666001