Reflection #5

October 22, 2011

On Thursday we had a new lecturer for OT9511. She was super friendly and very interactive with the class. She was so confident and welcoming that I actually overcame my fear of speaking in class and shared my own thoughts about various topics of her lecture.

The one thing about the lecture that struck me as interesting was the idea of "cultural brokers" and their role in the success of OT intervention. In Chapter 6 of Enabling Occupation II, it stated that the unintentional exclusion of the traditional healer in Sierra Leone almost halted an OT's efforts to integrate young girls into the community. By not communicating and consulting with the traditional healer--a powerful cultural broker of their culture, he could have turned the locals against the girls that the OT was working with.

Until this point, the main focus of the OT program was about individuality and the importance of looking at problems according the prospect of the clients and their families. This seems to be the reoccurring theme of client-centered care in OT. So according to this previous understanding, as an OT, I would not have thought twice about looking beyond the perspective of the clients and their families. I think this is because the idea of cultural broker is not prominent in the developed, Western society in which we reside.

However, up on reading this chapter, I understand and appreciate that others, besides the clients and their immediate families, may play an important role in the success of OT interventions. I guess the real challenge is to identify who these "other" important players may be. As an OT, how would I know who to consult with and to incorporate in my treatment planning? I guess the most important thing to do in working with individuals from different cultures is to communicate with the clients and ask the elders in the community to establish a general understanding of their culture, values, and beliefs. Then, to the best of my ability, I will perform some background research on the culture to gain further background information. Maybe by doing these things, I will be able to pin-point who may be important figures in my clients' cultural environment.

So far, we have been taught the importance of keeping up with the evolving evidence-based methods in order to enact best practice. Likewise, as an OT, I think it's just as important to continually educate myself, through communication and research, about the different cultures and religions to gain better understanding about my clients and their backgrounds. In this way, I will be able to perform culture-specific assessments, and plan the appropriate client-centered interventions and treatments. I have always been fascinated by various cultures and their associated values and beliefs, so I don't think this will be a difficult goal to enact. Like my dad says, it's never too late to learn and you can constantly become a better person with more knowledge (in this case, a more knowledgeable OT).