A survey of 138 Spanish optometrists and 148 occupational therapists found that collaboration between the two professions is rare, informal, and dependent on individual initiative. Where it does occur, satisfaction is high, but clear referral pathways and organisational support are largely absent.
Collaboration is most common in paediatrics and vision therapy but remains limited in low vision and acquired brain injury rehabilitation: 77 of the 131 participants who worked with ABI had no prior collaborative experience with the other profession.
Where collaboration does occur, satisfaction is high (median 4, mode 5) and practitioners report improved practice, but it depends on individual initiative rather than organisational support, and formalisation tools score low (median 2.5).
Occupational therapists perceived optometrists as more protective of professional boundaries (median 4 vs 2, p = 0.002), and non-collaborating OTs reported not understanding the optometrist's role in the rehabilitation team.
Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four participants were randomized across two intervention arms and assessed at twelve weeks for the primary outcome…
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