Occupational therapy and underprivileged groups

Occupational therapists are uniquely qualified to work with people with physical and mental challenges, like homeless people. Occupational therapy interventions focus on training life skills, job skills, interpersonal skills and money management. Although occupational therapy have recognised their role working with marginalised groups, it can be problematic because they often fell unprepared for this role, due to the lack of education on this topic. At the same time many of the other proffesions don´t even know about what occupational therapy is, or what an important role they can have (Grandisson and more, 2009).

CMOP or "the canadian model of occupational performance" is a model that occupational therapists uses. This model can be a good tool for findig out which interventions to provide to those who are homeless (Grandisson and more, 2009).

Occupational therapists role in the work with asylum seekers

The role of occupational therapy is to empower members of the community to recognize their own potential through meaningful occupations and to be included in the society. Occupational therapists work with the promotion of health and wellbeing in all people.

One type of intervention that occupational therapist can use while working with homeless and underprivileged groups like asylum seeker is intervention based on a community-centered approach. This intervention is based on developing a humanistisc, transcultural and holistic program, with meaningful occupations as the core of intervention. This intervention applies a client-centered approach where the aim is to promote the sence of independenc and self sufficient for the community. Working transcultural means that occupational therapy introduces cultural meaningful occupations in the intervention. While holistic occupational therapy means understanding the human being as a physical, psychosocial and sociopolitical being, whose essence is spiritual (Algado & Burgman 2005).

One of the underprivileged groups with whom occupational therapist can use the community-centered approach are minor asylum seekers.  To understand children and minors and to help them express themselves we must speak their language. The best way to do this is by using games and play, which is their most essential and meaningful occupation. Play can be used to provide support and to enable the children and youth to communicate their thoughts, emotions, feelings and desires (Algado & Burgman 2005). Different kind of techniques and activities that can be used are: drawing, finger painting, theater, dancing, mime, construction, etc. Engaging in meaningful occupations can help them to look for and find meaning in their experiences that they had suffered and to give new meaning to their daily lives. It appears that occupation has the power to evoke spirit, and spirit has the power to evoke healing (Algado & Burgman 2005).  

Another way to help them get through the trauma is to let the children and youth write their narratives as survivors. Narrative theory suggests that children and youth can benefit from expresssing traumtic experiences as a part of the process of the normalization (Algado & Burgman 2005).

It is also important to listen to these children and youth with respect and try to understand them. Support and be patient with them while they try to recover and return to their natural environment. We as ccupational therapists can help them to be included in the community by promoting community awarness about the problems that these children and youth has faced. These can for example be done by giving infromation to schools, institutions, meetings etc. (Algado & Burgman 2005).

Supported housing unit for minor asylum seekers

We got to visit the supported housing unit for minor asylum seekers in one of our study tours. this was an experience we felt we learned a lot from. This is a house unit with a total of 40 boys in the age of 16-17 years old. The function of this house unit is to offer safe living conditions for asylum seekers during their waiting process to be granted asylum or not.

We learned that some of the boys had been fleeing for 3 whole years before they came to Finland. Because of bad experiences with autorities earlier, it was hard to earn the boy`s trust and we where told that this was a process that took time. The staff experienced a lot of fighting and arguing among the boys in the beginning, they explained this behavior due to all the big changes in the boys life. They are in a new country, in a new house with new people who are strangers to them and they have to follow new rules.

The housing unit focuses on education and school for the boys, were they get to learn the finnish language and about the finnish cultur. They arrange activities like homework clubs, sports clubs, cooking clubs, painting and drawing sessions etc. Football was an activity that the boys were especially fond off. These activities were important for the boys to get their mind on other things and to forget about the waiting proscess and the fact that they dont know about their future. Do they get to stay in Finland? And if they do, were in finland will they be moved to?

Communication and interaction was important so they used a translater alot so that they could understand the boys, their feelings and wishes and in this way better help them.  They used something called cable coaching, a group consisting of the asylum seekers, staff members, volunteers and sometimes students . This coaching method was used to talk about their experiences before, life now, dreams for the future and values.  To do so they often used drawings as a method to let the boys better express them selves.

Literature:

• Algado, S.S. & Burgman, I. (2005) Occupational therapy intervention with children survivors of war In: Kronenberg. F., Algado, S.S. & Pollard, N. Occupational therapy without borders- Learning from the spirit of survivours. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
• Grandisson. M, Mitchell-Carvalho. M, Tang. V, Korner-Bitensky. N (2009) "Occupational therapists' perceptions of their role with people who are homeless"
  British Journal of Occupational Therapy

Who are we?

Authors:	Karoline Gundersen(24), Fjoralba Sadja (age 25), May Lene Ommundsen (age 25)
Institution	VID vitenskapelig høgskole (Diakonhjemmet)
Field of study	Occupational therapy
Level of study	Bachelor (third year)
Place of study	Sandnes
Country	Norway