Consulting experts
Four experts were invited by WFOT to take part as advisors to provide
feedback for the development of the occupational therapy human resources
strategy. Three of the experts were external to the research team and
included: the author most frequently cited in the preceding scoping
reviews; an external consultant involved in rehabilitation workforce
strengthening; and a research scholar in health economics and health
workforce with expertise in LMICs. Finally, the panel also included one
of our research authors (KM) not directly involved in drafting the SWOT
analysis. This expert added workforce expertise for both high-income
countries and LMICs. All experts, with the exception of the scholar in
health economics were occupational therapists. Altogether, the advisors
had occupational therapy, human resources policy and management,
rehabilitation workforce, and health policy and economic expertise,
across major global regions. The acknowledgement section provides the
experts’ names and positions for the three of the four advisors that
consented to this acknowledgement.
Following the acceptance of a formal invitation from WFOT, which
included terms of reference outlining the experts’ volunteer
participation, an online meeting with the advisors was held by the
research authors. The draft SWOT analysis was made available to the
experts a priori, and was reviewed during the one-hour meeting.
Open-ended, iterative, and verbal feedback was sought toward improving
the SWOT analysis. Field notes were recorded by the research authors
regarding missed or unclear elements of the analysis.
The field notes taken during the meeting were instrumental for refining
the SWOT analysis. Using the input provided by the advisors, the SWOT
analysis was iteratively edited by the research team. The advisors
subsequently had the opportunity to individually provide written input
regarding the final version.