AOTA-COMMON-ETHICAL-ISSUES — AOTA Advisory: Common Ethical Issues in Occupational Therapy Practice
What does AOTA-COMMON-ETHICAL-ISSUES say?
A 2022 study in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy surveyed 125 early-career OT practitioners about their most pressing ethical challenges. Top issues identified: (1) Productivity and billing concerns — pressure to meet unrealistic productivity standards that compromise client care quality. (2) Quality care vs. cost-cutting — institutional pressure to reduce treatment time or frequency despite clinical need. (3) Care disparities related to finances — clients' ability to pay affecting access to or quality of services. (4) Moral distress — practitioners feeling unable to act on their ethical judgment due to institutional constraints. (5) Confidentiality and privacy — challenges with electronic records, shared workspaces, and social media. (6) Dual relationships and conflicts of interest — personal or financial relationships that may compromise objectivity. (7) Dealing with incompetence — how to address observed incompetence in colleagues or students. (8) Misleading patients — pressure to overstate potential outcomes or understate limitations. These issues relate to Core Values (Altruism, Justice, Truth) and Principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Veracity, Fidelity) of the AOTA 2025 Code of Ethics.
Official source: read the full text in the AOTA Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (2025) (official document).