This mixed-method study examined the responses of 97 occupational therapists on the subject of spirituality in occupational therapy practice. The inclusion of spirituality into the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (2008) implies that clinicians address spirituality as a component of client-centered practice. This research revealed a gap between education, theory, and practice as evidenced in the quantitative and qualitative data. Although occupational therapy is intended to be holistic, therapists require a more complete understanding of what spirituality is and what the role of the occupational therapist is when addressing spirituality in evaluation or treatment. The discussion of this research provides information for future occupational therapy educators and educational programs as they seek to incorporate the construct of spirituality into curricula.
Instrumental touch is identified as having purposeful physical contact in order to complete a task. Expressive touch is identified as warm, friendly physical contact and is not solely for performing a task. Expressive touch has been associated with improved client status, increased rapport and greater gains made during therapy. The purpose of the study was to observe the frequency of expressive and instrumental touch utilized by an occupational therapist during an occupational therapy session. Thirty-three occupational therapy professionals, including occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants, employed at skilled nursing facilities in southwest Florida were observed. Data were collected on the Occupational Therapy Interaction Assessment. The results of the data analysis showed a positive relationship between the gender of the therapist and the frequency of expressive touch. The data also showed that a large majority of touches were instrumental touch and pertained to functional mobility. The results of the study can contribute to a better understanding of the holistic aspects of occupational therapy. By the use of more expressive touch, occupational therapy practitioners may have a positive, beneficial effect on both the client and the therapy process as a whole. Further research is needed to determine the effect an occupational therapy setting has on the frequency of instrumental and expressive touch. A larger sample size and a distinction between evaluation and treatment sessions would benefit future studies.
Background/aims Occupational therapy is a profession that uses holistic and person-centered approaches that deal with all aspects of daily life. Clients' needs fall into four areas, and one of them is spirituality. Therefore, occupational therapists should pay attention to this area, but there is little information on the status of occupational therapists' knowledge and use in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to translate the occupational therapy assessment of spirituality questionnaire into Persian and determine its validity, factor analysis and reliability. Methods This is a psychometric study that was conducted between June and September 2018. The Occupational Therapy Assessment of Spirituality is a self-report, 25-item questionnaire, with self-exploratory scoring that investigates occupational therapists' views on four factors: spirituality in the scope of practice following its addition in the theoretical framework; formal education and training on spirituality; need for future educational opportunities and training to address spirituality; and awareness of assessments and evaluations in occupational therapy that incorporate clients' spirituality. The International Quality of Life Assessment approach was used for translation. Content validity was performed with 10 occupational therapists regarding qualitative content validity, content validity index and content validity ratio. Exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency with a sample size of 125 people and test–retest coefficient with a sample size of 25 people were computed for reliability. Results Qualitative content validity was confirmed, with content validity index greater than 0.79 and content validity ratio greater than 0.62. During the exploratory factor analysis process, the number of factors was reduced to three factors and the number of questions were reduced from 21 to 15 questions. Internal consistency was good (0.88). Test–retest coefficient was 0.96, with a high level of significance (P<0.001). Conclusions The Persian version of the Occupational Therapy Assessment of Spirituality is a reliable and valid questionnaire and can be used among Iranian occupational therapists in different clinical settings.
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