This professionally challenging volume--focusing on the performance and status of Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs)--serves as a basis for reexamination and redefinition of the relationship between occupational therapists and assistants. Experts offer constructive possibilities for resolving some of the ongoing conflicts about the appropriate functions and education of COTAs and promote examination of the appropriate levels of function and education for the occupational therapist. The selected topics, chosen for their value and relevance to all occupational therapists--OTRs, COTAs, clinicians, and academicians--address the administrative issues regarding efficient use of COTAs and opportunities for their career development and job satisfaction; models of COTA practice described by COTAs who developed and implemented them within the framework of their jobs; and issues of concern to COTAs primarily as expressed by COTAs, with proposals and strategies for their resolution.