Post COVID-19 Issues
in Taiwan
President Ching-Yi Wu, ScD, OTR
Taiwan Occupational Therapy AssociationOutline
01

03

Human resources ofOccupational Therapists inTaiwan

Impacts of COVID-19 on OT

02

04

Occupational Therapists Act
Amendment

Provision of Occupational
Therapy in the Post-COVID
Era●●●Practice
Teaching
Continuing education
coursesHuman resources of Occupational
Therapists in Taiwan
The number of students graduating each year
Graduated Years

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Entry Year

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Total Students298

Number of Graduates288317321

316362341

399

Number of licensedindividuals(Graduates of thecurrent year)

--

223

222

245

269

248

--

Approximately
300-400308
people graduate
eachyear. 369
307
308353358

Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

The passing rate for the OT certification test each year

In general, the passing rate is between 40-60%(The number ofexaminees passingthe test)(Passing rate)

Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

However….
The registration percentage has decreased from 80-90% to 60-70% for OT
80-90%
60-70%OT

TotalOTA

Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

The gap between the number of certified OTs and the number of OT registrations

The gap
People are increasingly working in the community

Without the need of OT registration

The gap
The number of certified OT
The number of OT registration

Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

Work settings change from medical to community settings--OTs work in a greater variety of settings.
109
107
105
103
101
99
0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

醫院

72.02%

70.03%

69.51%

68.82%

68.11%

66.68%

66.98%

66.27%

61.10%

58.09%

56.78%

56.59%

診所

19.72%

21.27%

21.39%

21.56%

21.47%

21.46%

20.83%

21.51%

20.97%

20.11%

20.02%

19.67%

非醫院非診所

8.26%

8.69%

9.10%

9.62%

10.41%

11.87%

12.19%

12.23%

17.93%

21.81%

23.20%

23.74%

醫院診所

非醫院非診所Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

Work settings change from medical to community settings--OTs work in a greater variety of settings.
109
107

105
103
101
990.00%10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

醫院

72.02%

70.03%

69.51%

68.82%

68.11%

66.68%

66.98%

66.27%

61.10%

58.09%

56.78%

56.59%

診所

19.72%

21.27%

21.39%

21.56%

21.47%

21.46%

20.83%

21.51%

20.97%

20.11%

20.02%

19.67%

非醫院非診所

8.26%

8.69%

9.10%

9.62%

10.41%

11.87%

12.19%

12.23%

17.93%

21.81%

23.20%

23.74%

醫院診所

非醫院非診所Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

Work settings change from medical to community settings--OTs work in a greater variety of settings.
109
107

105
103
101
99
0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

醫院

72.02%

70.03%

69.51%

68.82%

68.11%

66.68%

66.98%

66.27%

61.10%

58.09%

56.78%

56.59%

診所

19.72%

21.27%

21.39%

21.56%

21.47%

21.46%

20.83%

21.51%

20.97%

20.11%

20.02%

19.67%

非醫院非診所

8.26%

8.69%

9.10%

9.62%

10.41%

11.87%

12.19%

12.23%

17.93%

21.81%

23.20%

23.74%

醫院診所

非醫院非診所Human resources of Occupational Therapists in Taiwan

Work settings change from medical to community settings--OTs work in a greater variety of settings.
109
107
105
103
101

99
0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

醫院

72.02%

70.03%

69.51%

68.82%

68.11%

66.68%

66.98%

66.27%

61.10%

58.09%

56.78%

56.59%

診所

19.72%

21.27%

21.39%

21.56%

21.47%

21.46%

20.83%

21.51%

20.97%

20.11%

20.02%

19.67%

非醫院非診所

8.26%8.69%

9.10%

9.62%

10.41%

11.87%

12.19%

12.23%

17.93%

21.81%

23.20%

23.74%

醫院診所

非醫院非診所In summary

OTs work in various settings, frommedical to community settings.
OTs help not only patients but also
individuals with health andsubhealth conditions.

Occupational Therapists Act Amendment
Current Law:

Occupational Therapy
Provision under
doctor’s Medical Orderor Refferal

To establish OT clinics,
occupational therapists needto have practiced in medicalrelated clinics for more than
2 years.

Occupational therapists
cannot provide services
to individuals who do nothave diseases.

Occupational therapists
who work in communities
find it difficult to establish
OT clinics.

Occupational Therapists Act Amendment

Benefits For the Public:

Amendment of the Act is pivotal and necessary
to meet the societal needs and toExempting
keep fromGranting
Reducing
theindividual's
right
professional
regulations
up-to-date
criminalof self-referral
to some OT
professional
services

consumption of
disease-relatedresources

liabilities forproviding some
professional
interventions

Occupational Therapists Act Amendment

Thank you to all my friends for their helpJapan

Occupational Therapists Act Amendment

Thank you for the support from countries around the world

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

CanadaHong KongItaly

Iceland

South Korea

Philippines

New ZealandImpacts of COVID-19 On- Clinical Practice
Examples….
Elders Occupational therapy clinics
× wacare- a platform of telehealth

Elderly people learn physical exercise on the platformImpacts of COVID-19 On- Clinical Practice
Examples….
Elders Occupational therapy clinics
×wacare- a platform of telehealth

Elderly residents living in rural areas
engage in cognitive activities through online platforms.

Impacts of COVID-19 On- Clinical PracticeStarpier Clinics
On-line courses of pediatricoccupational therapy

Impact of COVID-19 -Clinical Practice

A news report about the online tele-groupfor children and parents participating in
activities for the Dragon Boat Festival

Impact of COVID-19 -Clinical Practice

A conference for tele-services of rehabilitation
The discussion about practical problems,solutions, and the application of tele-services

Impacts of COVID-19 On-Teaching
Tele-teaching

The use of on-line materials in the Micro-Programof Intelligent health, care, and well-beingImpacts of COVID-19 On-Teaching
Tele-teaching
Due to COVID-19, students are adopting astreamed/remote learning approach(Hybrid course approach)

Teachers uploaded teaching videos, and students
watch videos by themselves(asynchronous course)Impact of COVID-19 -Continuing Education Courses
On-line Course (synchronous course)
The registration platform forcontinuing education courses of
the Taiwanese Occupational
Therapy Association•

Due to the pandemic, the courses
have been divided into in-person
and online courses.
In-person
On-lineImpact of COVID-19 -Continuing Education Courses●

Synchronous On-line Course●

Asynchronous On-line Course○○

We collaborate with Paramount Online
Training and Education Center toupload course videos to the platform
Students buy the course and learn iton the platformImpact of COVID-19 On -Continuing education courses

On-line Conference

Participant registration using a Google Form spreadsheet

The online conference is held
through Webex or Google
Meet platform

Audience ask questions,interact with speakers from
dialogue box

Provision of Occupational Therapy in the PostCOVID Era• OT for Long-Covid rehabilitation○○○○The Ministry of Health and Welfare in
Taiwan initiated a nationwide
Integrated Healthcare Plan toprovide comprehensive care for
COVID-19 survivors from December
2021.
A top-down care infrastructure
Aims to reduce the physical andpsychological consequences of
COVID-19 infection
OT’s roles■ Energy saving, ADL training,environmental suggestions,vocational training….

Provision of Occupational Therapy in the PostCOVID Era●Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation○○○

An increasing number of OTs
are becoming involved in
cardiac rehabilitation
Develop a continuing
education course on
cardiopulmonary rehabilitation
through our association
A cardiopulmonary center inKaohsiung Veterans General
Hospital

The continuing
education courseon cardiopulmonary
rehabilitation

The cardiopulmonary center in Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital

Provision of Occupational Therapy in the PostCOVID Era●Tele-rehabilitation in all clinical settings○

Currently, tele-rehabilitation isprimarily utilized in pediatric andcommunity settings.

■○

Expand to include all othersettings, including physical andmental health, and community

There are no specific regulations inplace for OT to conduct telerehabilitation■

Only found in Physicians Act■

Develop relevant regulations
based on the content of telerehabilitation services● Hybrid-teaching course/conferences○ A hybrid approach may be adopted for futurecourses■ Enhance flexibility in teaching andlearning■ To prepare it● Establish a smart classroom orvideo equipment for remoteteachingHybrid conference with streamed classrooms