Occupational Therapy Environment

505 Words2 Pages

The practice of occupational therapy is a client-centered practice; who the client is, what is important to them and what gives their life meaning is the core of therapy. Understanding a client in these contexts is crucial for the client- therapist relationship. A good client-therapist relationship facilitates meaningful assessment, intervention and research which are influenced by culture and environment. The environment that an occupational therapist creates can have a large impact on the intervention and assessment of a client. Assessing clients in the least restrictive environment would allow the client to have freedom to express themselves which is vital to therapy. The assessment an occupational therapist administers is likely …show more content…

The therapist must be culturally aware and sensitive. They can advocate for a culturally competent environment which meets the needs of their diverse group of clients. If a therapist doesn’t communicate properly the assessments and interventions can be impacted due to being culturally incompetent. This could impact research practices as well, understanding that people have different cultures and that their communication methods may be different can be a huge factor in a successful assessment, intervention or research practice. Culture can prevent clients from seeing things the way a therapist would want them to see. Regarding mental health it is important to be culturally aware because what is the norm in one culture may not be the norm in another. Culturally appropriate assessments are still a controversy today but there are cross-cultural assessment allow the therapist to get to know their client better Environment and culture largely impact if an assessment or intervention go in a positive direction or negative direction. If they go in a positive direction than it is a stepping stone into good research practice with accurate data. As a therapist being awareness of the environment and culture can lead to successful outcomes because they are vital to an individual’s meaningful

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