Workplace peer support for continuing professional development in occupational therapy: A grounded theory.
Emmanuelle Moreau, Annie Rochette, Aliki Thomas and 2 others
OTs described peer support as working through three channels — validating clinical reasoning, managing emotional strain, and building expertise — and said it works best when timely, practice-grounded, and safe.
Productivity pressure, especially in private practice, was the main barrier.
Key findings
1OTs sought peer support for three main reasons: validating clinical reasoning in complex or unfamiliar situations, managing emotional strain after challenging cases, and supporting longer-term professional growth and career development.
2Feeling safe and non-judgmental was a prerequisite for meaningful peer support; directive interactions (being told 'this is what you have to do') were experienced as undermining confidence and limiting reflection, whereas co-constructing a solution together enhanced willingness to try new approaches.
3In public-sector settings, peer support was more formally structured and institutionally supported (mentorship programmes, employer-provided resources); in private practice it was more ad hoc, individually negotiated, and constrained by back-to-back appointments, with one participant describing it as 'doing volunteer work.'
Still to come
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Recruitment used convenience and snowball sampling, so OTs with a similar interest in peer support may have been overrepresented, limiting transferability. Interviews were adapted to participants' priorities, so some guide questions (including how peer support intersects with evidence-informed practice) were not explored systematically. Most participants both gave and received peer support, but their accounts focused predominantly on receiving it, leaving the experience of providing peer support underexplored. All participants and the research team were situated in a Western (Quebec, Canada) health-care context; other cultural or epistemological perspectives were not explored. Fifteen participants in one province limits how far the findings can be generalised.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest declared. Funded by Équipe FUTUR, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation, the Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation, the Ordre des ergothérapeutes du Québec, and Université de Montréal. Grammarly was used for English language editing; all authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that peer support improves clinical outcomes — it is a qualitative study of how 15 OTs experienced and valued peer support, not a test of whether it works. The public-sector advantage in structured support reflects Quebec's regulatory context and may not transfer to other settings or countries.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →