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Experiences in occupational therapy with A fghan clients in A ustralia
Author(s) -
Maroney Pamela,
Potter Marianne,
Thacore Vinod Rai
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1111/1440-1630.12094
Subject(s) - rehabilitation , occupational therapy , refugee , cultural competence , mental health , acculturation , competence (human resources) , psychology , context (archaeology) , nursing , medicine , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , psychiatry , immigration , social psychology , political science , pedagogy , biology , paleontology , neuroscience , law
Background/aim With a steady increase of refugees arriving in A ustralia from A fghanistan coupled with reports that prevalence of mental illness amongst A fghan refugees in S outh‐ E ast M elbourne 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 A fghan psychiatric clients in the A ustralian context, providing the impetus for this article. To illustrate the impact of A fghan 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 A fghan 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 A ustralian socio‐cultural environment. These and other issues mentioned above provide fertile fields for research in this evolving area of occupational therapy.