Boosting Visibility and Engagement: How Social Media Transforms Recruitment for a Doctorate-Level Occupational Therapy Program

Document Type (Journals)

Original Research

Abstract

Social media use has become an essential strategy for university recruitment and admissions to attract prospective students and influence their graduate school acceptance decisions. Platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook play a significant role in shaping students’ perceptions and research about universities. While other allied health professions have benefited from increased social media use for recruitment, the impact on occupational therapy programs remains underexplored. Research indicates that social media advertising strategies can enhance program visibility and outreach, yet systemic barriers, financial challenges, and post-coronavirus disease enrollment declines continue to affect admissions. This study examines the influence of social media on occupational therapy recruitment at a private university in the Midwest by analyzing social media engagement data, applicant feedback, and demographic trends. Using a two-part design, a cross-sectional survey was distributed to applicants of an entry-level Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program during the 2024 and 2025 admission cycles (n=127), and a retrospective analysis compared demographic data from this post-social media cohort to a pre-social media cohort of applicants from the 2022 and 2023 admission cycles (n=72), prior to the program's social media launch. While the results displayed a statistically significant difference in geographical location between the pre-social media cohort and the post-social media cohort, age, sex, and race/ethnicity did not display statistically significant findings. Approximately half the respondents who used social media (49.1%) reported it had a moderate or higher influence (moderate = 37.6%, greatly = 10.6%, completely = 1.2%) on their program decision. Among respondents who engaged with the program’s social media content (n = 78), 96.2% agreed or strongly agreed that social media was an effective tool in sharing information about the affiliated OTD program. Similarly, 94.9% agreed or strongly agreed that they would recommend the program to a prospective student after viewing and interacting with the content on social media platforms. Findings from this study provide insight into what social media content are beneficial to students (day-in-the-life content, insights into coursework and fieldwork, student and alumni testimonials) to further enhance the recruitment of more diverse prospective occupational therapy students.

Biography

Rebecca Ozelie, DHS, ORT/L is the Chair and Program Director, and Associate Professor at Rush University in Chicago, IL. Dr. Ozelie is actively involved in research and teaching with a focus on physical disabilities, innovative teaching methodologies, and inclusive education.

Ashley Hong, Rachel Lowenthal, Ava Robinson and Grace Steffen were OTD students at Rush University in Chicago, IL at the time of the study.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Recommended Citation

Ozelie, R., Hong, A., Lowenthal, R., Robinson, A. M., & Steffen, G. (2026). Boosting Visibility and Engagement: How Social Media Transforms Recruitment for a Doctorate-Level Occupational Therapy Program. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 10 (4). Retrieved from https://encompass.eku.edu/jote/vol10/iss4/2