1. Define the workload model.

 

2. Understand public elementary school district administrators’ perspectives on the factors that influence occupational therapy service delivery and compensation.

 

3. Identify factors influencing occupational therapy service delivery and compensation and avenues for promoting workload model adoption.

 

School-based occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) experience burnout related to the excessive work demands associated with a commonly used approach, in which compensation is tied to students-facing time. The workload model has the potential to alleviate this burnout, in part because it compensates an OTP for all tasks performed. This model, promoted by the American Occupational Therapy Association for more than a decade, is not widely used in the United States. The reasons for this slow espousal are not yet understood. School administrators are believed to be the linchpin to a broader use of the workload model. A preliminary study aimed to understand school district administrators’ perspectives on the factors that influence occupational therapy compensation. To this aim, a qualitative study was conducted with school administrators (n = 7). Analytic rigor was ensured through audit trail, reflexivity journal, multiple coders, and triangulation via artifacts. Deductive analysis of transcribed semi-structured interviews revealed three interrelated themes: external factors, beliefs/knowledge, and service delivery. The external factors, such as finances, impact service delivery; compensation decision was affected by a combination of regulatory and fiscal factors, both real and perceived; administrator knowledge of the workload model remains limited; and occupational therapy is clearly valued within the school setting. The study, while giving voice to a key stakeholder group, identified factors influencing occupational therapy service delivery and compensation and avenues for promoting workload model adoption.