Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
This phenomenological study explores the meaning and importance of spirituality and provides insight into the current landscape of spirituality in practice through the perspectives of OT practitioners across diverse settings.
Primary Author and Speaker: Loree T. Pham
Additional Authors and Speakers: Regina Sarnicola, Christina Villasenor, and Tiffanie Vu
PURPOSE: Spirituality is often at the crux of the universal human experience, particularly as an important contributor to health, quality of life, and well-being. In an influential study that explored the beliefs and practices of five hundred occupational therapists regarding spirituality, Engquist, Short-Degraff, Gliner, and Oltjenbruns (1997) found that 84% of the occupational therapists in the study agreed that spirituality was very important to health and rehabilitation and 91% agreed that clients’ spirituality might influence rehabilitation potential. However, only 37% of participants felt that addressing spirituality was within the scope of the occupational therapy profession (Engquist et al., 1997). Due to the nature of occupational therapy’s holistic approach to healthcare, occupational therapy (OT) practitioners are well suited to address the topic of spirituality within client care. However, evidence suggests many practitioners feel discomfort or lack of knowledge or awareness of this subject. The purpose of this study was to examine and provide an update on the current experiences of OT practitioners in regard to spirituality in practice.
DESIGN: This study utilized a phenomenological qualitative research method to explore OT practitioners’ experiences with spirituality on client care. This approach allowed for a better understanding of the lived experiences of OT practitioners and their encounters with spirituality in practice. Few studies have delved into occupational therapists’ experiences and can encapsulate whether or not spirituality has been used in their practice and in what form. With there being a limited amount of recent literature regarding spirituality, this qualitative approach provides a deeper and more updated insight on this phenomenon. Participants were recruited using a combination of criterion, convenience, and snowball sampling methods.
METHOD: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen participants from a variety of backgrounds and practice areas with at least one year of experience. The interviews were transcribed and independently coded before being reduced and refined in order to find the emerging themes of the study.
RESULTS: 1) Losing spirit: the inadequacy of only addressing mind and body, 2) spirituality as a vehicle for reaffirming purpose in both client and therapist, 3) addressing spirituality through functional and measurable treatments. The findings of this study suggest that OT practitioners find spirituality as a relevant and necessary topic to address. However, the current healthcare landscape prioritizes measurable and functional goals, which fail to consider psychosocial and spiritual aspects that can profoundly impact health outcomes.
CONCLUSION: The high volume of respondents to the initial call for study participants is a significant indicator that this study topic is not only one of high interest, but is also one that is very relevant and much needed. While existing literature on spirituality in occupational therapy touched upon some items discussed in this study, such as barriers to addressing spirituality or lack of spirituality assessments or preparedness in academic curricula, these issues were discovered continue to persist year after year without any notable strides to change that fact. Although the concept of mind, body, and spirit is not new, the healthcare field, including occupational therapy, does not consistently address these three components simultaneously as often as they should, leading to many missed opportunities in client practice. As a profession, we need to increase the discourse and have more conversations around spirituality to adequately address the spiritual needs of the individuals, groups, and populations we serve.
References
Engquist, D., Short-Degraff, M., Gliner, J., Oltjenbruns, K. (1997). Occupational therapists’ beliefs and practices with regard to spirituality and therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 51(3), 173-79.
Egan, M., & Delaat, M. D. (1994). Considering Spirituality in Occupational Therapy Practice. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61(2), 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/000841749406100205
Egan, M., & Swedersky, J. (2003). Spirituality as Experienced by Occupational Therapists in Practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(5), 525–533. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.57.5.525
