Dr. Francine Seruya Publishes Article in Respected Occupational Therapy Journal

A Mercy College professor in the School of Health and Natural Sciences recently published an article a respected journal in partnership with colleagues at institutions across the country.

Francine Seruya, Ph.D., professor of Occupational Therapy and director of Mercy’s Occupational Therapy program, published an article in the Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention entitled, “Building better teams: Impact of education and coaching intervention on interprofessional collaboration between teachers and occupational therapist in schools.” The article shared the results of a study that assessed whether a four-month training and coaching program could improve the collaboration between school-based occupational therapists and classroom teachers.

Providing effective occupational therapy services in schools requires a high degree of interprofessional collaboration, but other studies have shown that this type of collaboration does not typically happen. Evaluating a potential solution, this study concluded that the training and coaching program did improve interprofessional collaboration skills. 

The authors concluded that there is a need for ongoing collaboration training both for working professionals and in undergraduate and graduate programs like Mercy’s that train future teachers and occupational therapists.

Mercy College congratulates Seruya for her continued work to improve outcomes for therapists and those receiving services.

To read the full article, please click here.