CULTURAL HUMILITY IN OUR OCCUPATIONS

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       Culture is defined as “the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic.” (Webster) and to elaborate more, it is “the knowledge, beliefs, values, assumptions, perspectives, attitudes, norms, and customs that people acquire through membership in a particular society or group” (Hammell, 2009a). A person’s culture also affects how they are because they could include the “behavioral standards, and expectations accepted by the society or cultural group of which a person is a member” (OTPF-4, 10).For example, in my person life, I grew up with the norm of not eating pork or anything with pork, and it’s something I am accustomed to.

         A person’s culture impacts their daily occupations and routines by becoming part of them. It affects how they work, what they do and every decision or opinion we have comes from our culture and what we value. One thing that impacts my daily routines is my value of time, for example, I just believe that time shouldn’t be wasted and if anything, I try to be on time and make use of every time I get.

         An OT practitioner can use the cultural information of a client to inform their treatment goals and interventions by being culturally humble. That can help them explore with the client what will be good for them because not everyone is the same. While at my practicum last year, I was at a home visit with my supervisor and she learnt a lot of things from our client’s family. I noticed that during our session, she allowed the parents to include some cultural games and food for the child to be involved and get comfortable.

         The term cultural humility is preferred over cultural competence in the OT profession as we move towards greater cultural responsiveness in caring for our clients because as practitioners, we have to learn to be open and respect our clients’ beliefs, values and everything about them. It is better that a practitioner accepts that everyone is different than to go In and assume anything about the client.

         Overall, culture plays a huge role in an occupation setting. It is who a person is and how they respond. How we work and achieve goals at work all come from our culture. It is very important to not assume anything about people we work with and rather research and communicate more about differences with people.













                                                         Works cited 


Hammell K. W. (2009). Sacred texts: a sceptical exploration of the assumptions underpinning theories of occupation. Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapie, 76(1), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/000841740907600105

         Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Culture definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture

         Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process—Fourth Edition. Am J Occup Ther August 2020, Vol. 74(Supplement_2), 7412410010p1–7412410010p87. doi: https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001

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