This special issue of Occupational Therapy International is dedicated to school-based occupational therapy. In the last three decades occupational therapy has been undergoing a paradigm shift, from primarily institutionalbased practice to community care in helping individuals to participate in everyday meaningful occupations . Occupational therapists, especially those working in school-based environments, are faced with complex demands and challenges when providing services to students with special needs.
This special issue includes manuscripts on school-based occupational therapy, from an international perspective, with the purpose of learning how this paradigm shift is influencing the work of occupational therapists around the world. This issue delineates a wide range of topics related to the roles and intervention models of occupational therapists in private and public schools.
The article by Ziviani, Scott and Wadley, from Australia emphasizes the important role that school-based occupational therapists can play in promoting the health of elementary school students. The topic of functional assessment is discussed from two perspectives. Mancini and Coster describe the functional requirements that predict participation, as measured by the School Functional Assessment tool. Hwang, Nochajski, Linn and Wu from Ta iwan focus on the issue of cross-cultural use of the School Functional Assessment. This topic is vital from an international and multicultural perspective, since an individual's occupational performance must be examined within the context in which he or she functions.
The shift from a medical to an educational-ecological model has required school-based occupational therapists to modify their intervention practices. Weintraub and Kovshi from Israel, discuss changing practice models. Finally, occupational therapists are increasingly required to generate and incorporate evidence-based practice into assessment and intervention. Olson and Moulton from the United States, address this topic in the context of a specific intervention method.