Improving Your Cultural Competence as an OT

Today in Foundations of Occupation Centered Practice we discussed the importance of culture differences and being aware of what individuals consider good or bad, desirable or undesirable, or even acceptable or unaccpetable to them. Being culturally aware is crucial to providing care and treatment in all healthcare professions, not just occupational therapy. However, when planning interventions and other aspects of care as an OT it is definitely important to be aware of your clients and not make cultural assumptions. There are several ways to improve one's cultural competence but an important first step would be self reflection. Simply learning about yourself and acknowledging assumptions or biases and then actively moving to rid those thoughts can completely change how you treat individuals and clients.