Being Prepared for Diversity in Practice: Occupational Therapy Students' Perceptions of Valuable Intercultural Learning Experiences

Occupational therapists are increasingly working in diverse areas of practice, in diverse settings and with diverse client groups. Accordingly, understandings of the complexities of interactions between service providers and clients, relative to the environments and contexts in which they come together, are requisite to competent practice.

This article describes a phenomenological study undertaken with occupational therapy students in New Zealand, which focused on their experiences of learning to work with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this article, a subset of the findings from the study is presented. This subset of findings was that client-centredness and hands-on experiences in fieldwork were perceived to be the most important features of the occupational therapy students' education as preparation for working with clients from different cultural backgrounds. A presentation of narrative extracts and interpretive commentary is followed by a discussion of the implications of the findings for occupational therapy education, especially fieldwork education.

Cultural Variations in Bay Area Functional Performance Evaluation Scores — Considerations for Occupational Therapy

In comparing the scores obtained in the Bay Area Functional Performance Evaluation test by two groups of acute psychiatric patients, one in San Francisco, California and the other in Vancouver, British Columbia, this paper examines aspects of performance which may be culturally determined. Given the limitations of the medical model used in many acute psychiatric programs, it considers possible alternative uses of this standardized test beyond the traditional occupational therapy initial assessment which may enhance its value: in identifying important information for treatment planning by the occupational therapist and providing a way of measuring a patient's readiness for discharge.

Cultural relativism: occupation and independence reconsidered

In this article, findings from a qualitative study of a cohort of occupational therapy students in Auckland, New Zealand are presented. The study focussed on the experiences of students as they learned to work with people from different social and cultural backgrounds over a 3-year period. As well as identifying curriculum and teaching/learning processes that enhance intercultural competence development, the data that emerged from the study also highlight important issues about how occupation and independence are conceptualised across cultures. A review of the trans-disciplinary and occupational therapy literature dealing with theoretical, conceptual and educational issues relating to cross-cultural practice is followed by a presentation of narrative extracts that address the key concepts of occupation and independence. These are then discussed with reference to relevant occupational therapy literature. In conclusion, implications for future research and practice are explored focussing on a need for occupation and independence to be reconsidered as culturally relative constructions.

The immigrant client: issues in developing culturally sensitive practice

A new challenge to the client-centred approach of occupational therapy emerges as therapists consider how best to meet the needs of the culturally different client How culture is conceptualized carries considerable implication for the ways in which this challenge may be met. Occupational therapy literature is building a body of knowledge concerning the sociocultural implications of practice. Ethnographic studies in the social sciences, which emphasize the complexity of the relationship between culture, environment and health experiences, contribute to the further development of an understanding of the immigrant client, and provide direction for both clinical practice and research.