Velozo delivers Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture

Class of 1984 alumnus Craig Velozo, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, delivered the Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lecture, the American Occupational Therapy Association’s (AOTA’s) highest academic award, on April 6. The award honors a member of the AOTA who has creatively contributed to the development of the body of knowledge of the profession through research, education, and/or clinical practice. His lecture was titled “Using Measurement to Highlight OT’s Distinct Value.”

Velozo is a professor and the director of the Division of Occupational Therapy in the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of Southern Carolina. His expertise is in the application of Rauch measurement and item response theory in developing patient/therapist reported outcomes. In his lecture, Velozo described the measurement paradigm shift needed to collect individual client data that supports occupational therapy’s distinct value as a critical component of rehabilitation. The lecture was given during AOTA’s INSPIRE, a virtual event held throughout April.