Cultural Differences In Occupational Therapy

As occupational therapy services diversified, serving a variety of clients in many different settings and with societal influences, the field began to evolve. During the 1990s occupational therapists began to shift away from reductionist medical model toward a more holistic client-centered approach. Services focused on enhancing individuals’ quality of life across the lifespan meaning before, during, and after therapeutic intervention. The profession began to better acknowledge the value of client education, injury and illness prevention, health screening, and health maintenance (Cole & Tufano, 2008). The field created more preventative initiatives, and focused services on improving quality of life and optimizing the independence of

The occupational therapy profession shares many objectives across the communities, clients, and families they serve. Some of these aims include: “Developing the field of occupational therapy and enhance the professions capabilities to meet the needs of the entire population, providing evidence on the efficacy of occupational therapy. This includes working with organizations and local communities, incorporating education, research, and practices as a complete whole. In addition, developing a team of professionals that innovates and adapts to the developing health needs of the population” (AOTA, 2013). This includes advocacy efforts with policymakers to ensure continued funding to provide care to individuals (AOTA, 2013). Occupational therapy is a distinctive profession that helps

This link between occupation, health and well-being (i.e. the fact that people are occupational by nature and that engagement in meaningful occupation is essential to health) forms part of the core beliefs and values – the philosophy – of the occupational therapy (OT) profession (Kramer et al, 2003). OT has its foundations in both philosophy and science, but unlike other medical professions, it was the philosophy that came first

Occupational therapy was founded on the principle that participation in meaningful activity is important to the health of individuals. Mental health is very important to the well-being of an individual and those around them. 450 million people experience mental and neurological disorders around the world. These disorders are the leading 5-10 causes of disability worldwide. As services for individuals with mental illness have shifted from the hospital to the community, there has also been a shift in the philosophy of service delivery. In the past, there was an adherence to the medical model; now the focus is on incorporating the recovery model. (2) Occupational therapy’s focus that taking part in engaging and meaningful activities benefits the mental well-being of the individual.

Lives are changed everyday by occupational therapy assistants. I have the dedication, compassion, and ability to celebrate every miniscule improvement needed to become a successful OTA. This a quickly growing field where I can use the talents I already possess to excel. I can easily recall the differences made in my papaw’s life through occupational therapy and the way every advancement in mobility or independence was as exciting as it would be with a new

Through the almost 100 years of occupational therapy as a profession, occupational therapy have gone from a profession focused only on the mentally ill patient to a profession that is targeting a broad range of population ranging from the special needs population, to veterans, and people with different diseases and physical disabilities or injuries. It is inspirational to know that this profession started based on the ideology that “even the most challenged are entitled to consideration and human compassion” (O'Brien, 2012). Likewise, it is fascinating that occupational therapy played such an important role in both of the world war as reconstruction aides focusing on rehabbing the soldiers and helping veterans recover during post-war period

This caused me to think about various aspects of cultural diversity that are fundamental while dealing with clients. The information I gathered was key to my path to becoming a culturally competent occupational therapist in various ways. First, the idea of viewing patients from culturally and linguistically diverse community from various perspectives is new to me, and I intend to incorporate it into strategies with my potential clients by taking each individual as unique and distinct from the other hence serving them better. Secondly, the information on cultural competency being a dynamic and complex process requiring continuous expansion of personal, cultural know-how and self-evaluation was new. I intended to incorporate this while dealing with potential clients by continuous interaction with people from distinct cultures to be acquainted with knowledge on how best to serve the needs of each person

The future of occupational therapy is consistently changing and requires new legislation to oversee the needs of the professional and their clients. The idea of a government, eliminating funding sources to OTs in hope of decreasing federal spending is not an unspoken idea. As more and more individuals in our society are crossed-trained and expected to do-more and produce-more, the efforts of Willimarth is critical.

The AOTA’s societal statement (2013) on health disparities asserts that OT practitioners have a duty to “intervene with individuals and communities to limit the effects of inequities that result in health disparities.” These disparities can be a result of many factors including social discrimination, access, and quality of health care as well as socioeconomic status (2013). The statement concludes by saying that OT practitioners have necessary skills and knowledge available to help these populations and that efforts to lessen or eliminate health disparities are supported by the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics, 2010 (2013). This statement reaffirms the idea that even though it is not traditional OT, this is an area that OTs can and should be involved

The occupational therapy field is frequently being left behind in the health care field because most of the public is uneducated or unaware of the Occupational Therapy practice and the research that is involved. The public also has a few concerns of OT which include the time commitment to the program, the availability of services, the impact of the therapy on other family members, and the cost involved in continued care. While there are drawbacks to Occupational Therapy, the benefits of the practice outweigh them. The value and purpose of occupational therapy is to support the health and participation of clients by engaging them in their desired occupations. Occupations are activities that reflect cultural values, provide structure to living and meaning to individuals. These activities meet human needs for self-care, enjoyment, and participation in society. There are many different types of therapy used for people with disabilities such as autism, people with limitations from strokes, sicknesses such as cancer, and they can even help prevent childhood obesity. The different types of therapy can range from interventions all the way to dolphin assisted therapy, whatever the therapist finds appropriate. The similarity is that the Occupational Therapist will research and pick the most beneficial type of therapy to proceed with for that certain type of disability or problem that person is having. I believe

What is occupational therapy? How does one define the profession and validate its worth in the medical field? Since its conception as an established health care profession, occupational therapy’s philosophy has been defined, redefined, and refined. In their writings esteemed Occupational Therapists Mary Reilly and Susan Peloquin offer their own critical and revisionary ideas of occupational therapy’s worth, the basic need it fulfills, and its service to the healthcare profession. Both women ask their peers to refine what is

Occupational identity as developed in the MOHO is based on who someone is as an occupational being and therefore is extremely useful to inform the direction of a client-centered approach to occupational therapy (Lee, Taylor, Kielhofner, & Fisher, 2008). Collaboration on therapeutic procedure between the client and the occupational therapist is known as client-centered practice, which is the utilization of clients’ values, goals and experiences to drive therapeutic intervention

In order to get a full preview and experience of occupational therapy is to listen to what the occupational

In accordance with Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF), “the efforts directed toward promoting occupational justice and empowering clients to seek and obtain resources to fully participate in their daily life occupations.” (Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, 3rd Ed., p. S41). I consider occupational therapy to be a compassionate career, practitioners try to grant their clients’ wants and needs to better suit the

Occupational therapy has been in the process of continued development since the 1900’s. With several contributors helping to build the groundwork for creating the awareness needed to bring occupational therapy into the field of health care. Continued research is contributing to the ongoing significance of how occupational therapy is a vital aspect in promoting increased independences in all aspects of healthcare. (Willard, Schell, 2014) With the incorporation of “Occupational Therapy Practice Framework Domain and Process (3rd ed.)” helps creates the foundation for occupational therapy clinicians as well as other health care providers in facilitating the core believe of occupational and the relationship of health and occupation. (AOTA 2014) Therefore, providing a uniform outline of the various aspects of each individual and how they are interconnected to create the foundation of each individual. With a greater understanding of the foundations of that induvial, the clinician can then facilitate the best therapeutic treatment plan for that individual to achieve their personal goals with unified foundations of care.