Cultural Responsiveness in Occupational Therapy

Introduction

Occupational therapy refers to the evaluation and application of appropriate interventions that help in solving issues that disturb individual’s capability to carry out things that are very essential to them like taking care of themselves, undertaking leisure and productive activities (Reitz and Scaffa, 2020). It is an allied health profession done by occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. Occupational therapists always deal with individuals with mental problems, disabilities, injuries, or impairments. The American Occupational Therapy Association portrays an occupational therapist as someone who helps individuals to solve issues or problems that affect their capabilities to carry on their essential activities by use of appropriate interventions and thus, enhancing them to return to their normal life (Pizzi & Richards, 2017). Mutual occupational therapist interventions used to help individuals to return to their normal life routine include injury restoration, helping kids with disabilities to take part fully in institutional and social events, and offering support to older adults undergoing cognitive and physical challenges.

The majority of the occupational therapy literature that addresses cultural competency is old fashioned, descriptive and concludes by issuing guidelines for clinical practice based on specific cultural descriptions of particular cultural groups. Cultural groups most often discussed about are populations that have emigrated to the Australia, the UK, Canada, or the USA or the native people seeking occupational therapy in their own countries, for the Aborigine and Yanomani populations. Some of the expression related to addressing culture in occupational therapy displays that occupational therapists are beginning to study cultural influences on activity choices, culturally based deviations affecting rehabilitation and culturally based clarifications of health and illness (Farmer, 2021). Although an individual’s ethnicity or immigrant status are still in the foreground in most of the studies carried out, researchers have also addressed other dimensions of culture, such as economic and social dislocation or the power of affection of refugee trauma and level of acculturation. However, there is a paucity of research that has tried to specifically examine the process of providing culturally competent care in occupational therapy and much of the research that is available is old fashioned.

Occupational Therapy Ethics Codes

• Multiculturalism

Multicultural communities from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds exist all over the contemporary world. Cultural diversity is expected to rise due to the availability of better transportation, an increment in inflow of immigrants, and the outcomes of war, such as increasing number of refugees and shelter seekers. As a consequence, occupational therapists will continue to frequently encounter individuals from various cultural environments in their everyday activities. It is generally accepted that culture has a major influence on health care practice, and that culturally competent practice has emerged a professional obligation (Tétreault et al, 2020). However, there is contradictory in the delivery of occupational therapy services to customers and to avoid marginalization based on background, cultural requirements, and features.

• Cultural Responsiveness

Culture refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that includes thoughts, actions, communications, beliefs, customs, values, and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious and social group. Culture affects all aspects of occupational therapy service and cultural context is defined within the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework as beliefs, customs, behavior standards, activity patterns, and expectations accepted the society of which a client is a member (Ching et al, 2019). It is a central opinion of occupational therapy to consider the culture of individual clients and their families as culture molds an individual’s identity, roles, and perception of independence. Sometimes, a family’s cultural beliefs may interfere with best clinical practice.

 In the course of these situations, it is important to consider Occupational Therapy Ethics Code and Ethics standards. These standards guide individuals moral practice so that where differences exist, occupational therapy personnel will pursue efficient efforts for resolution (Kearney & Kimberley, 2018). This code gives practitioners seven principles to guide them; non maleficence, beneficence, autonomy/confidentiality, procedural justice, social justice, fidelity, and veracity. While pursuing these standards and respecting a client’s values and culture, occupational practitioners should work together with client and/or famine to come up with the best medical plan.

Current Successes in Occupational Therapy

Largest number of occupational therapists in World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) member countries, have continued to be employed in institutional setting. In a number of developing nations, there is a strong tendency towards community-based practice whereas hospital-based care seems to be decreasing (Halle, Mroz, Fogelberg & Leland, 2018). Other fashions include an increased attention on geriatric care, application of occupational therapy concepts to industrial setting and the growth of private practice. As stated earlier, Community-based rehabilitation programs are being applied in many growing nations to extend rehabilitation services to rural areas and reach wider range of the population. Although, occupational therapists in less developed nations tend to be less specialized compared to those of technically advanced nations. But in many countries where some form of health service exists, occupational therapy services must be fitted into this health care system.

Current Disparities in Occupational Therapy that Affect Marginalized Groups of People

Although occupational therapist is known as an allied health profession, its source as a profession in the USA was concerned about the relationship between health and society. There has been a frequent tension between the biomedical concerns dominant in healthcare and occupational therapy objectives of enhancing participation in daily life. Occupational therapy has not often looked into detail the importance social concerns but there has been an increasing deep penetrations on the study of implications of taking part in everyday life as a social justice issue in the past few decades. Increasingly, occupational therapy literature is addressing practice with distinct marginalized groups. There are many individuals without than within the main influential groups in the social hegemony (Pollard & Sakellariou, 2017). These influential groups pressurize the structure of the society by making sure that there exists uneven distribution of resources toward those who already have. This eventually affects health outcomes among those who are poor and in various ways, marginalized (Ching et al, 2019). Examples include some very important areas such as the occupational needs of women, disabled individuals and of the older gay individuals. Therefore, marginalization may be understood as an aspect of cultural super diversity many societies experience.   

Conclusion

From what I have learnt, to address the needs of the marginalized populations, I will advocate for re-evaluation of the relationship between occupational therapy and biomedical discourses in order to prioritize social concerns. Also, I will try as much as possible to acquire a diversified and marginalized experience which will later help me boost my ability to participate in community and social life in a meaningful manner. Delivering culturally competent practice, requires more than knowledge and understanding of the elements and stages involved, that is, it must also include the meaning of cultural issues to clients and an awareness of attitudes of those delivering health and social care. This shows, in my profession as an occupational therapist, I have to understand clearly the elements and stages involved in delivering culturally competent practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Ching, E., Contreras, E., Dimalanta, P., Duran, L., Freeman, R., Hawe, U., . . . Ramos, W. (2019). Social and Cultural Concepts Module: Curricula to Foster Cultural Responsiveness. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 3(3). doi:10.26681/jote.2019.030304

Farmer, L. S. (2021). Culturally-sensitive learning practices. IASL Annual Conference Proceedings. doi:10.29173/iasl7720

Guidelines for Documentation of Occupational Therapy. (2018). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(Supplement_2). doi:10.5014/ajot.2018.72s203

Halle, A. D., Mroz, T. M., Fogelberg, D. J., & Leland, N. E. (2018). Occupational Therapy and Primary Care: Updates and Trends. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(3). doi:10.5014/ajot.2018.723001

Occupational Therapy in the Promotion of Health and Well-Being. (2020). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(3). doi:10.5014/ajot.2020.743003

Pizzi, M. A., & Richards, L. G. (2017). Promoting Health, Well-Being, and Quality of Life in Occupational Therapy: A Commitment to a Paradigm Shift for the Next 100 Years. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(4). doi:10.5014/ajot.2017.028456

Pollard, N., & Sakellariou, D. (2017). Occupational therapy on the margins. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 73(2), 71-75. doi:10.1080/14473828.2017.1361698

Tétreault, S., Bétrisey, C., Brisset, C., Gulfi, A., Schaer, M., Leanza, Y., & Kühne, N. (2020). Intercultural Experiences Prior to the Educational Program: Occupational Therapy and Social Work Students. Journal of Culture and Values in Education. doi:10.46303/jcve.2020.6