Initiating occupational therapy clinical research.

The purpose of research is to give us indications of what the effectiveness of particular treatments are on groups of people. The similarities between what we accept as a standard of education and practice and what we conceive to be research are striking. In both cases, these are disciplined methods of collecting and analyzing data, and acting upon the results of it. Those of us with clinical populations have unanswered questions and thus, good reasons for conducting research. The professional who wants answers must be willing to work for them knowing that the rewards and personal satisfaction will be great. Hopefully, the membership will recognize the importance of providing support to research and will be generous in their contribution to the American Occupational Therapy Foundation. The AOTF provides the necessary seed money to answer the questions that we are all facing.