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Original Article

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2026): FJOT 2026

Redesigning Occupational Therapy Education in France: A Delphi Consensus on Essential Professional Activities

Submitted
2025 August 13
Published
2026-06-04

Abstract

Introduction
France is advancing toward the full university integration of health professions education, requiring a contemporary, consensus-based description of essential occupational therapy (OT) activities to guide curriculum redesign.

Objective
To identify and organize essential OT activities in France to include in the future entry-level curriculum.

Methods
A national, three-round Delphi study (2016–2018) involved French occupational therapists (Rounds 1–3) and, in the final round, OT students and recent graduates. Round 1 collected open responses; Round 2 assessed importance ratings; Round 3 recorded binary inclusion decisions. Textual analyses were conducted by combining the Interface for Multidimensional Text and Questionnaire Analysis, R-based interface (IRaMuTeQ) and Bardin’s content analysis. Consensus was defined as ≥85%. Ethical procedures complied with French law and EU GDPR.

Results
Round 1 generated 64 distinct activities, 49 of which were in Round 2. In Round 3, the professionals selected 35 activities and students/graduates selected 30, with 27 shared by both groups. These were organized into five domains: (1) Evaluation & Clinical Reasoning; (2) Occupation-centred Intervention & Environmental Adaptation; (3) Interprofessional Collaboration & Care Coordination; (4) Education, Advice & Therapeutic Guidance; and (5) Professional Development, Research & Student Supervision (primarily endorsed by professionals).

Discussion
The findings highlight the centrality of structured clinical reasoning, real-context interventions, environmental adaptation, and interprofessional practice in French OT. Organizing consensus activities into domains provides a scaffold for curriculum mapping within the Bachelor’s–Master’s–Doctorate framework.

Conclusion
Overall, the results provide an empirical foundation to support the ongoing transformation of occupational therapy education in France and highlight the need for curricula that integrate evolving professional practices, explicit learning outcomes, and aligned assessment strategies. Continued stakeholder engagement and periodic review will be important to maintain the framework’s relevance.

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