What constitutes core values in occupational therapy practice?

An empirical investigation into the role of values in occupational therapy decision-making

Introduction

The importance of values in occupational therapy is generally agreed; however, there is no consensus about their nature or their influence on practice. It is widely assumed that occupational therapists hold and act on a body of shared values, yet there is a lack of evidence to support this.

Method

The research tested the hypothesis that occupational therapists’ responses to ethically challenging situations would reveal common values specific to the occupational therapy profession. A total of 156 occupational therapists were asked to decide what should be done in five common-place yet ethically complex situations, presented as scenarios for debate.

Results

The results show that while most occupational therapists share very general values, they frequently disagree about what to do in practice situations, often justifying their choices with different and sometimes conflicting specific values. In some cases, the same respondents espouse contradictory values in similar situations.

Conclusion

The extensive literature about decision-making – together with the study’s results – confirm that when occupational therapists make decisions, they draw on multiple factors, consciously and unconsciously. These factors vary between individuals. Value judgements are one part only of a complex process which includes personal experience, intuition, social influences, culture, psychological influences and relationships with both colleagues and clients.

The axiological ontology of occupational therapy: a philosophical analysis

OBJECTIVE

This article describes the results of a study analyzing several discourses on the values of occupational therapy and some philosophical assumptions upon which these values are based.

METHOD

A qualitative study of several values statements using the hermeneutical method--a conventional analytical approach in philosophy--was conducted.

RESULTS

The literature review reveals that opinions on the values of occupational therapy differ greatly--no one value is shared among all the values statements examined. However, the majority of the texts mention occupational participation. A philosophical analysis of the literature shows that this value is based on a conception of human beings that can be traced back to the philosophical anthropologies of thinkers like Marx, Rousseau, Sartre, and Kant. The philosophical analysis also brought to light a certain conceptual confusion about what a value is.

CONCLUSIONS

This article therefore offers some conceptual clarifications to help distinguish between values, beliefs, attitudes, principles, and non-evaluative concepts. It also presents the implications for practice of this philosophical analysis of values statements of the profession.