Methods:
We used a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) framework to develop the given situational assessment. A SWOT framework20, is an analytical tool often used for informing health workforce development,21-25 and focuses on identifying which Strengths and Opportunitiesmight be optimized, as well as Weaknesses and Threats to be minimized or overcome for advancing a system. Here, we used a SWOT analysis to lay the foundations, of need and opportunity, for the development of strategies for strengthening the worldwide occupational therapy workforce.
Within a SWOT framework,20 Strengths and Weaknesses are considered internal factors, where Strengthsrepresent a competitive advantage for that system or its own development, while Weaknesses refer to limitations of the system or organization that may hamper its progress; hence, both refer to properties of the system under study. In turn, Opportunities are any factors that may act as a facilitator to the progress of the system or organization, whereas Threats refer to barriers that serve as a disadvantage; both Opportunities and Threats refer to properties external to the system under review.