Experiences in occupational therapy with Afghan clients in Australia

Abstract

Background/aim With a steady increase of refugees arriving in Australia from Afghanistan coupled with reports that prevalence of mental illness amongst Afghan refugees in South‐East Melbourne is particularly high, mental health providers will need to acquire cultural competence to provide effective treatment. There is a dearth of literature on the subject of rehabilitation of Afghan psychiatric clients in the Australian context, providing the impetus for this article. To illustrate the impact of Afghan socio‐cultural beliefs and attitudes on the implementation of occupational therapy and rehabilitation programmes in a mental health facility and adaptations to accommodate the needs of the clients and their families. Method Two case vignettes of Afghan clients are presented to illustrate the variance in goals and expectations of the clients and their families to that of the occupational therapy and rehabilitation programmes offered. Conclusion Family expectations and involvement, culture‐specific factors and religion play significant roles in the presentation and treatment of clients from the Muslim culture and require modification in implementation of rehabilitation programmes. A need for developing family or community‐based services is proposed coupled with culturally responsive practices. Culture sensitive models of occupational therapy will need to be developed as younger generations of refugee families acculturate and need psychological help to deal with conflicts with parents and elders who hold values different from those adopted by their children born and brought up in the Australian socio‐cultural environment. These and other issues mentioned above provide fertile fields for research in this evolving area of occupational therapy.

Drugs, HIV Treatment and Harm Reduction Services for Afghan Refugees in Iran

“…Most of the clients had poor education and not-well paid jobs. This is consistent with other studies which showed that Afghan refugees had drug problems and a low socio-economic status (10,11). Almost 10% of the study clients were injecting drug users.…”

“…These programs included both Afghan refugees and their families. It is essential to develop continued family services along with culturally responsive practices (10). This issue will also help to design and implement specific Afghan programs.…”

Immigration, Participation in Health Services and Social Occupations: A Literature Review

“…30,32,35,42,53 However, none has studied cultural differences as an empowering or enabling factor in the social and community participation of immigrants. 18,19,34,54 The concept of culture also appears to have been simplified. The depth of the concept of culture with "… shared experience and meaning, as well as process involved in creating, ascribing and maintaining meaning to objects and phenomena in the world. "…”

Malaysian Occupational Therapists’ Perspective on Prayer Activity of Muslim Clients

“…However to date, most medical and health literatures focus on educational awareness of Muslim's characteristics; ethics of physical contact between males and females (i.e. limitations of direct touch between males and females except in emergencies); issues of dealing with minority or immigrant rights and challenges in communication; and culture value and moral ethics of health workers' interaction with clients (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). The practice of religion and culture can be confusing at times which resulted in the difficulty to differentiate between the practice of ethnic culture and practice of religion (9,13) as one of the challenges faced by occupational therapists.…”