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As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close, Just Empower Next is proud to highlight the invaluable contributions of bilingual Occupational Therapy practitioners and their impact on our healthcare system!

As a bilingual Occupational Therapist herself, our Founder, Jennifer Sanchez, has witnessed firsthand how language and cultural understanding can strengthen therapeutic relationships, build trust, and improve patient care and outcomes.

Bilingual practitioners play a vital role in bridging healthcare gaps, advocating for underserved communities, and empowering patients and families through culturally responsive care.

A special thank you to Dr. Vanessa Yanez @the_onco_ot, COTAD, @cotad_national, & @ot.spanish.essentials for inviting Just Empower Next to be part of your Hispanic Heritage Month National Initiatives! We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate, celebrate representation, and amplify voices making a difference. 🌎

As always, Just Empower Next!

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As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close next week, we are not done celebrating yet! We are excited to share two special messages from AOTA President Arameh Anvarizadeh and Vice President Cristina Reyes Smith, who will help us close out this year’s celebration!

Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss it!

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemont

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Effective occupational therapy extends beyond traditional clinical skills. It also includes cultural humility and support for language access to provide equitable, high-quality OT services.

Over the past few weeks, we have discussed cultural identity, cultural differences, and the ways these factors can shape the experiences and outcomes of the clients we serve. As current or future OT practitioners, it’s important to understand these contextual influences, and this should really begin while we’re in OT/OTA school. What do you think?

This leads us to this week’s question, which was inspired by COTAD: How can OT education better prepare students to support language access and practice cultural humility? Are there ways ACOTE standards could be strengthened to better equip future practitioners to meet the needs of diverse communities and provide culturally responsive care?

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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As we approach the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to thank everyone who has shared their experiences, words of wisdom, as well as their journey into occupational therapy. We see you and we are grateful you are part of this OT family. We recognize the passion and dedication you have poured into this field, and how your cultura continues to strengthen the fabric of the occupational therapy profession.

Today’s message from fellow occupational therapy practitioners and students continue to inspire us, and their words are a reminder of how our cultural identities and experiences are needed within occupational therapy. Let’s keep showing up as our authentic selves and creating spaces where others can do the same.

For this week’s challenge, share a story or picture that represents your heritage or culture. Whether it’s a favorite food, family tradition, cultural item, holiday celebration (such as Día de los Muertos), family heirloom, or flag, we’d love to hear and/or see how you connect to your roots.

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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Part 2! A big thank you to Dalmina Arias for taking the time to capture these beautiful messages from OT practitioners and students across the United States. @dalii92 @uic_ot

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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Week 3 of Hispanic Heritage Month began with consejos, which translates to words of wisdom. As we reflect on the importance of words, it’s also important to recognize that not everyone has equitable access to healthcare due to language barriers. Unfortunately, language continues to be a significant issue to accessing care and/or receiving high-quality care for monolingual Spanish speakers.

One recommendation shared by COTAD reflects their ongoing efforts to expand access to translated professional resources, which leads to this week’s question:

To improve access and equity, how can we push for more translation of professional documents, assessments, and toolkits? What else needs to be translated and who can take the lead?
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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Listos/Ready for week 2 of Hispanic Heritage Month?!

We have more amazing stories, words of wisdom, and conversations to share with you this week as we continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and amplify voices and relevant issues within our profession.

Tuesday: Interview video featuring OT practitioners and students at the AOTA Inspire conference sharing their perspectives on representation in the OT field.

Wednesday: Join us for an IG Live with national COTAD and Dr. Ryan Lavalley as we discuss and explore ways to create a more equitable and inclusive occupational therapy profession through holistic admissions, leadership development, language access, cultural humility, and expanded translation of professional resources. You don’t want to miss it!

Thursday: Be part of our weekly call to action, where we highlight important issues impacting occupational therapy and explore ways to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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Join us Wednesday for an IG Live with national COTAD and Dr. Ryan Lavalley as we discuss and explore ways to create a more equitable and inclusive occupational therapy profession through holistic admissions, leadership development, language access, cultural humility, and expanded translation of professional resources.

Date: Wednesday, September 23, at 4:00 PM PST/7 PM EST.

Make sure to follow @cotad_national to listen to this conversation. You don’t want to miss it!

A big thanks to Dr. Vanessa Duran from USAHS for coordinating the panel!

*Share this post to your story, like it, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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As we wrap up the first week of Hispanic Heritage month, we are also looking ahead to the second week, where we will highlight the importance of representation.

Representation matters, many of us know this. Oh, we definitely feel it.

Seeing people who look like us, speak like us, and even act like us can validate our identities in professional and academic spaces. When we see others (such as peers, faculty, leaders, and practitioners) with similar cultural backgrounds, it re-inforces the message that we belong and we are safe to express ourselves. It also influences how we see ourselves in the future, that the what ifs are possible and realistic.

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming next.

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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We’re excited to partner with COTAD throughout Hispanic Heritage Month to spark conversations about Latine/x representation in occupational therapy. COTAD is a coalition and network of occupational therapy practitioners, students, and educators working together to advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), liberation, anti-racism, and anti-oppression within the profession. COTAD empowers us to work toward practices that increase diversity, equity, and inclusion and help build a more transformative profession.

During this week, let’s take a closer look at admissions practices and committees, one of the key gateways into our profession.

We know a diverse workforce can lead to improved access to care, greater patient choice and satisfaction, and better outcomes (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], n.d.). The journey to OT begins before someone walks into their first day of class or fieldwork, and admissions practices play an important role in determining who has access to the profession, which in turn, who is represented within OT. Equity is about making sure individuals/prospective students have legitimate access to opportunities and resources without facing discrimination or bias (AOTA, 2020; Taff & Blash, 2017, as cited in Johnson et al., 2025).

With this in mind, let’s reflect on how admissions committees within higher ed can implement more holistic admission practices to promote equitable access to OT and OTA programs for Latine/x students. What changes could OT/OTA programs make to create more equitable pathways into the profession?

We want to hear from you! Do you have a story to share?

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.
#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #Hispanicheritagemonth

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Have you wondered what led OT practitioners and students to the field of occupational therapy?

Behind every person, there is a powerful story...from an experience, a person, a drive or mission, to a moment that inspired them to pursue this profession.

Hear our OT familia share their stories on what led them to the field of OT. Our journeys may be so different, but they all converge to join the path to help people live their best life.

What is your story? Share below! To hear more stories, please follow Why Choose OT movement, who are not just raising awareness of occupational therapy, but really, they are changing how others see and understand occupational therapy. @whychooseot

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and tag a friend or colleague to help us spread the word! The more we share, the more voices we can amplify.

#SomosOT #occupationaltherapy #OT #Visibilidadyvoz #hispanicheritagemonth

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Meet la familia!

If you’re just joining us, you might be wondering what is #SomosOT?

The Somos OT National Hispanic Storytelling Project is a grassroot initiative that began earlier this year. It brought together Latine/x occupational therapy practitioners and students from across the country at this year’s AOTA Inspire conference in Anaheim, California.

We had the opportunity to meet our OT familia, from the East Coast to the West Coast! Between educational sessions, salsa dance break, and inspirational keynotes, we were able to sit down and interview each other, capturing so many beautiful stories. And throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll be sharing their stories... from what led them to occupational therapy, how their culture influences their practice, advice they have for others, and so many more words of wisdom.

There is so much diversity within the Hispanic community. We have different cultures, backgrounds, identities, and experiences. Yet, we found connection through our shared passion for occupational therapy and our commitment to the people and communities we serve.

So, from coast to coast, ¡conozcan a nuestra familia de OT! 🫶🏽

And if there’s one thing I am reminded of, it’s that conferences can be magical places. They are places where we not only learn and grow, but a place where we can also find community. Make sure to check out your state organization’s website and social media account to learn of your upcoming state conference. If you live in California, we will be celebrating our 50th OTAC Conference anniversary later this year, you don’t want to miss it!

*Share this post to your story, repost it, and/or tag a friend to help us spread the word and amplify our message.

#visibilidadyvoz #occupationaltherapy #OT #Hispanicheritagemonth

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