ETHICAL ASPECTS OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROFESSIONALS: SURVEY DATA

Abstract

Topicality. The expanding clinical autonomy of physical therapists and occupational therapists, together with changes in the model of rehabilitation care, has increased attention to issues of professional responsibility in this field. This problem becomes particularly important in the context of multidisciplinary interaction, where responsibility is distributed among several participants in the rehabilitation process and does not always have clearly defined boundaries. Additional complexity arises from the need to balance professional competence, intervention safety, respect for patients’ rights, and effective communication in typical clinical situations. This article addresses the ethical aspects of the professional responsibility of physical therapists and occupational therapists in typical clinical situations of rehabilitation practice.
Objective. To identify how the boundaries of professional responsibility are understood in typical clinical situations of rehabilitation practice among individuals associated with physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Materials and methods. The study employed analysis of scientific and methodological literature, review of regulatory and legal acts governing responsibility in healthcare, a sociological survey administered through Google Forms, and methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, and mathematical statistics.
Results. The survey involved 150 respondents. The primary sample included physical therapists, occupational therapists, assistants, students, and several representatives of related specialties. An analytical sample of 141 respondents was formed for the main analysis of the clinical cases. The findings indicate that respondents demonstrate a basic level of professional ethical reasoning and support the value of situational case-based learning for teaching medical law and professional ethics in higher education.
Conclusions. Practicing specialists demonstrated a sufficiently consistent ethical and legal understanding of responsibility within the rehabilitation process, supporting the need for further development of this topic in professional education.