GenAI in Occupational Therapy: A Survey of Adoption, Ethical Concerns, and Training Needs

Abstract

Importance: Occupational therapy practitioners are rapidly adopting generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in clinical settings, yet little is known about current usage patterns, ethical concerns, or training needs specific to the profession.Objective: To examine how occupational therapy practitioners are using GenAI in practice and explore their ethical concerns, and training needs.Design: Cross-sectional survey study.Participants: 277 occupational therapists; 77 occupational therapy assistants with a mean age of 40.8 years and a mean of 14.8 years of professional experience.Outcomes and Measures: Self-report questionnaire examining AI usage patterns, perceived advantages and limitations, ethical and institutional factors influencing adoption, and training preferences.Results: 48.9% of participants reported using GenAI in the past six months, with common applications including answering work-related questions (38.7%) and generating clinical content. Primary concerns included preference for human judgment (46.2%), accuracy and reliability (45.7%), and ethical issues (38.2%). Only 6.2% reported formal institutional GenAI policies, and 94.8% never entered personally identifiable information into GenAI systems; only 12.2% obtained informed consent from stakeholders to use GenAI. While 68.3% believed practitioners should receive GenAI training, 42.2% reported receiving no training, with most (73.2%) desiring formal webinar-based instruction.Conclusions and Relevance: Occupational therapy practitioners reported significant GenAI use. Participants also noted substantial concerns about ethical implementation, data security, and loss of clinical skills. Findings suggest that critical gaps in formal training and institutional guidance exist. Evidence-based frameworks and structured educational initiatives to ensure GenAI integration aligns with client-centered, ethical practice standards are needed.Plain-Language Summary: This study examined how occupational therapy practitioners in Ohio currently use GenAI tools in their work. Survey results indicated that while many practitioners are experimenting with GenAI for tasks like writing notes and organizing information, they have serious concerns about protecting stakeholder privacy and whether GenAI can truly understand the complexities of occupational therapy practice. Most had not received formal training on how to use GenAI ethically and safely.

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