Monash University OCC1011: Professional Issues in Occupational Therapy

This essay delves into the multifaceted professional landscape of occupational therapy, examining critical aspects that influence client care and ethical practice. The essay begins by dissecting effective and non-effective communication skills within healthcare environments, emphasizing their impact on patient adherence and satisfaction. It then transitions into a comprehensive discussion of ethical and legal issues pertinent to both clinical and non-clinical occupational therapy scenarios, including dilemmas related to autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and resource allocation. The essay further analyzes the role of professional behavior, highlighting key attributes such as integrity, responsibility, and competence, and their influence on optimal client care. The assignment also addresses the importance of inter-professional collaboration and the strategies occupational therapists can implement to enhance patient outcomes. Overall, the essay provides a detailed overview of the complexities within the field of occupational therapy and emphasizes the need for practitioners to navigate ethical challenges and promote effective communication to provide the best care for their clients.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 1
Occupational Therapy
Name
Institution

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 2
Occupational Therapy
Introduction
The society has people who go through different challenges and who need assistance to find
meaning to their lives. People of all ages can suffer from cognitive, physical, sensory, or
neurological problems and they struggle with having independence in their daily activities. These
people find it extremely difficult to do their jobs, take care of themselves, engage in social
activities, or move around. This is why occupational therapists are an important part of society
because they teach these individuals how to adapt. Occupational therapy is a healthcare field that
focuses on improving the abilities of a client to take part in activities of daily living thus helping
the client to regain their independence in every area of their lives. The practice of occupational
therapy must, however, be guided by ethics, effective communication, and absolute
professionalism. This essay, therefore, intends to describe communication skills in a healthcare
environment. The essay further talks about the legal and ethical considerations both clinical and
non-clinical occupational therapy practices. The essay finally addresses the professional practice
required to offer clients optimal care.
Communication Issues
Communication is a very important aspect of growth and success at a place of work. Effective
communication in the workplace is achieved when a positive work environment can be created
and maintained. Effective communication is believed to lead to high levels of performance
because employees can share ideas and information (Husain, 2013). Communication helps in
avoiding confusion, building a positive organizational culture, creating accountability, and
providing purpose. It is also important to note that this kind of communication must originate

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 3
from the top leadership down to the juniors as this is what separates a great leader from a good
one. Communication at the place of work is vital because it helps in defining the organization’s
goals and create a culture of teamwork and collaboration.
It is also worth noting that sometimes communication is non-effective and the message of the top
leadership is not passed down to every other employee as effectively as required. Some research
findings have revealed a statistic that indicates that approximately 57% of employees do not get
clear directions from their bosses. The same studies have also revealed that around 69% of
managers do not feel comfortable communicating with their employees (Holmes & Stubbe,
2015). This is a clear indication that communication at the workplace needs to be improved
massively to ensure organizational growth and success. It is, therefore, important to develop a
communication process that is healthy and beneficial.
Effective communication is a good component of occupational therapy due to the following
reasons: it encourages patient adherence to medication and improves patient satisfaction thus
leading to better health outcomes (Borghi, Johnson, Barlascini, Moja & Vegni, 2016). One of the
effective communication elements in occupational therapy is the use of questioning skills during
the initial interview. The importance of these skills is that they help the therapist in building a
rapport with the client (Price, 2017). As a result, the occupational therapist can come up with an
appropriate treatment plan for the patient. This element is important as it helps in building a
healthy patient-doctor relationship. Occupation therapy is a client-centered profession and it is,
therefore important to build strong client-doctor relationships. Good interviewing skills during
communication are therefore important in understanding the patient and giving them the care that
they need (Price, 2017). Empathetic communication skills such as being able to show
compassion and emotion during communication are also important in occupational therapy.

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 4
These skills show that the therapist is understanding and is eager to assist the client in the
process of treatment and healing. Empathy is an essential value that improves the quality of
patient care and encourages a healthy patient-doctor relationship. This is because the patient feels
valued, respected and understand thus making the healing process better (LaVela et al., 2017).
Studies have shown that when there is a feeling of trust between the client and their doctor then
implementation of interventions becomes easier.
Non-effective communication skills such as one way communication, disregard of emotions, and
getting personal are not good attributes of an occupational therapist. These kinds of
communication elements create an uncomfortable environment for the client thus preventing
them from expressing their true feelings. As a result, patient satisfaction is lowered which
reduces the quality of care due to poor implementation of health interventions thus affecting
health outcomes (Epner & Baile, 2014).
Occupational therapists should, therefore, aim for effective communication skills to help in
improving their clients’ health outcomes. This can be done by employing some useful strategies
that influence good communication. The occupational therapist should focus on the issue the
client is going through rather than focusing on the patient (Kibe, 2014). This shows that he cares
and is interested in helping the patient. Additionally, the therapist should be able to empathize
with the patient instead of detaching themselves. Using words of affirmation is also important
because it shows the client that the therapist acknowledges their experience.
Ethical and Legal Issues
Any professional practice is faced with different legal and ethical challenges. Occupational
therapy, in particular, is faced with these challenges to the point that they have become almost

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 5
unavoidable in both clinical and non-clinical practice. Ethical conflicts occur mostly during
discharge planning because the health provider must ensure that the needs of the client will be
met post-discharge (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2015). The reason why
discharge planning is faced with a lot of ethical challenges is that it is an activity that must
involve inter-professional collaboration. It is important to note that working together in a
healthcare setting by a team of professionals requires competence, desire, commitment, and
collaboration. Ethical issues, therefore, arise due to different ethical beliefs, principles, and
duties. Ethical dilemmas that face occupational therapists revolve around the four main bioethics
principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice (American Occupational
Therapy Association, 2015). Autonomy addresses the aspect of respecting the patient and their
choices as well as obtaining consent. Beneficence ensures that the provider has a duty of care to
do good and prevent the patient from harm. Non-maleficence refers to an obligation to not bring
harm to the patient. Justice ensures that patients are treated equally and fairly.
Occupational therapists are required to follow the above-mentioned bioethical principles and
besides following the principles of veracity, confidentiality, and honesty. They are also required
to follow and respect the policies and procedures set by their employing bodies. Ethical
dilemmas pose a moral challenge to occupational therapists and they may, therefore, be
unpleasant to experience. Unresolved ethical dilemmas are believed to cause stress to
practitioners thus affecting job satisfaction which consequently affects health outcomes. Most of
the ethical dilemmas faced by occupational therapists include working with unprofessional
colleagues, attending to difficult patients, and insufficient resources allocation among others
(Nortjé & De Jongh, 2015). Additional reported ethical dilemmas include disrespect towards
vulnerable clients by some staff members, discharge of patients, and dealing with confidentiality.

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 6
One of the ethical issues faced by occupational therapists in a clinical setting is the safety of a
client. Client safety is in most cases experienced during discharge. For instance, there are
situations when a client may request a discharge from the hospital and this may put the therapist
in an ethical dilemma especially when they think that this could be unsafe for the patient. A
similar case was reported by Durocher and Gibson (2010) where the therapist deemed it unsafe
to allow the patient to leave the hospital. In this case, the occupational therapist was torn between
the principle of autonomy and the principle of non-maleficence. The therapist has a duty of care
to respect the decision of the patient while at the same time ensuring that the patient is harmed.
This, therefore, puts the therapist in an ethical dilemma.
Another ethical dilemma that an occupational therapist may encounter especially in a non-
clinical setting is about the allocation of resources. For instance, in a community setting,
resources are normally scarce and not every client in need of them may get access to them. The
therapist may, therefore, use prioritization to decide which services to offer and to whom they
are offered to thus putting the principle of justice at stake (Carrier et al., 2010).
Occupational therapists are also sometimes faced with legal issues such as suits against medical
malpractice. This is when a client feels that the OT has not performed their jobs according to the
highest professional standards. Medical malpractice may sometimes result from fatigue thus
causing misdiagnosis. As a result, client safety is threatened thus leading to poor health
outcomes. Their confidence in the therapist is massively reduced thus affecting the patient-nurse
relationship (Ferrara, Boscolo-Berto & Viel, 2013). The cost of healthcare also increases.

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 7
Professional Behavior Issues
Occupational therapists are professionals who are trained to help their clients to face and
overcome their challenges to live more independent lives. They offer their services to people of
all ages and disabilities. It is important to note that occupational therapists work in various
environments that may include schools, workplaces, hospitals, and nursing homes among others.
Their approach to treatment and healthcare is a holistic one with the main goal of improving
skills for living thus improving the wellbeing of their clients to ensure that they can achieve more
(Hammell & Iwama, 2012). Where necessary, they work with the family of the patient and other
healthcare professionals.
Occupational therapists and other associated professionals within an inter-disciplinary team must
ensure that clients receive optimal care thus ensuring patient safety and improving health
outcomes. Better health outcomes imply that a client regains their capacity to fully take part in
activities that are meaningful to them thus promoting their overall wellness. Occupational
therapists’ primary focus is to ensure that they help their clients in achieving full independence
to allow them to take part in these life activities (Hammell & Iwama, 2012). The best way to
achieve this and ensure optimal care for the client is by fully understanding the complexity of the
interaction between their clients, the activities they enjoy engaging in, how the activities affect
their general wellness, and their environments.
Observed professional behaviors that may help in ensuring optimal patient care include integrity,
responsibility, respect, communication, maturity, and competence. An occupational therapist
must be able to display the above-mentioned behaviors to improve client satisfaction thus
leading to quality health outcomes ("Policy on Professional Behavior", 2020). For example, an
OT must show maturity in their practice. This is when they show that they are emotionally

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 8
stable, confident in their practice, use the right language, and accept constructive criticism. This
kind of behavior is important because it inspires confidence in others and ensures that the OT
displays appropriate emotions that are not hostile to the client or other health professionals. As a
result, the quality of care is improved, patient satisfaction is elevated and better health outcomes
are achieved.
An occupational therapist together with other members of an inter-professional team
acknowledges the fact that the health and environment of their client depend on several factors.
They then offer solutions after analyzing these interacting factors. Here are some of the
professional behaviors that can be implemented by an occupational therapist. Firstly, an
occupational therapist at a workplace should work with the employer and employees to identify
and understand the organization’s most important goals and which of these goals are important to
a client ("Occupational Therapy and Workplace Health and Well-Being", 2020). The OT,
therefore, takes care of their client based on these preferred goals thus ensuring optimal client
care. Another professional behavior is encouraging their clients to track their progress. This
helps the client in understanding where they are from, their goals and targets, what they need to
work on, and the timeframe of their healing process. This strategy helps in improving client
experience thus improving patient satisfaction which consequently leads to better health
outcomes. Additionally, an occupational therapist in liaison with other inter-professional team
members can design a client-based program that entails several techniques that include pain
management, relaxation, and energy conservation. It is worth noting that client-based care is
essential in improving patient experience and satisfaction thus making the treatment process
better ("Occupational Therapy and Workplace Health and Well-Being", 2020). Finally, the OT
should ensure that the workplace and home of their clients are modified to avoid risks of any

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 9
future injuries or pain. This professional behavior shows the client that their provider is caring
and takes their best interest at heart to ensure optimal care and health outcomes.
Reflection and Conclusion
Communication is very important in occupational therapy and thus a good occupational therapist
must have good communication skills. Good communication skills are believed to increase
patient satisfaction, improve the confidence and trust of the patient on their therapist, strengthen
the patient-nurse relationship, and ensure quality health outcomes. The two main communication
skills discussed in this paper are good interviewing skills and empathetic communication. These
two skills are fundamental in ensuring optimal client care in occupational therapy. The ability to
ask relevant questions during the initial interview is very important because it helps in creating a
rapport between the client and the occupational therapist. The strength that this skill has is that it
shows the client that an OT is interested in their story and this makes them trust the OT. This
skill may, however, need some significant improvements such as the proper use of non-verbal
communication to help in driving a point home and capturing the attention of the client.
Empathetic communication skills show that the occupational therapist is caring and can show
emotions depending on the situation of the client. One of its main strengths is that it exposes the
emotional vulnerability of the therapist. This kind of vulnerability is important because it assures
the client that another person can share their pain thus improving the treatment process and
consequently health outcomes.
Professional behaviors are important in occupational therapy because they stipulate the practice
of occupational therapists and ensure that clients receive optimal care when they need health
services. All occupational therapists are required to possess these professional behaviors because
they help in quality service delivery. Some of the most important professional behaviors include

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 10
respect, integrity, competence, responsibility, maturity, and responsibility. An occupational
therapist must be able to respect their staff members, their client, and the client’s family.
Additionally, they must show a sense of responsibility to practice punctuality and cope with
challenging situations appropriately. Furthermore, they must be mature enough to demonstrate
emotional stability, accept constructive criticism and inspire confidence in others. They must
also be able to communicate effectively with others and their clients respectfully and
courteously. Integrity is also an important professional behavior because it shows that the
occupational therapist practices honesty and they can be trusted. Finally, they must show a very
high level of competence to diligently perform their task and ensure patient safety thus
promoting quality health outcomes. This paper talks about maturity as a key professional
behavior in occupational therapy. The strengths of this behavior include an ability to be
confident and humble; display appropriate emotions depending on the situation of the client;
avoid confrontation.
In conclusion, occupational therapy involves care provision for different members of the society
who have lost the ability to take part in different activities of daily living. The main aim of
occupational therapists is to provide holistic care to their clients and ensure that they regain their
independence to engage in meaningful activities. The practice of occupational therapists is
affected by communication skills, legal and professional issues, and issues involving
professional behaviors. Good communication skills help in improving the relationship between a
client and the therapist thus creating an environment of trust to ensure optical care for clients.
Ethical dilemmas and professional issues affect occupational therapy as well as professional
behaviors such as respect, maturity, and competes among others.

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 11
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2015). Standards for continuing
competence. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(6913410055).
Borghi, L., Johnson, I., Barlascini, L., Moja, E. A., & Vegni, E. (2016). Do occupational
therapists’ communication behaviours change with experience?. Scandinavian journal of
occupational therapy, 23(1), 50-56.
Carrier, A., Levasseur, M., & Mullins, G. (2010). Accessibility of occupational therapy
community services: a legal, ethical, and clinical analysis. Occupational therapy in
health care, 24(4), 360-376.
Durocher, E., & Gibson, B. E. (2010). Navigating ethical discharge planning: A case study in
older adult rehabilitation. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 57(1), 2-7.
Epner, D. E., & Baile, W. F. (2014). Difficult conversations: teaching medical oncology trainees
communication skills one hour at a time. Academic Medicine, 89(4), 578.
Ferrara, S. D., Boscolo-Berto, R., & Viel, G. (2013). Malpractice and medical liability. Berlin:
Springer.
Hammell, K. R. W., & Iwama, M. K. (2012). Well-being and occupational rights: An imperative
for critical occupational therapy. Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy, 19(5),
385-394.
Holmes, J., & Stubbe, M. (2015). Power and politeness in the workplace: A sociolinguistic
analysis of talk at work. Routledge.

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES 12
Husain, Z. (2013). Effective communication brings successful organizational change. The
Business & Management Review, 3(2), 43.
Kibe, C. W. (2014). Effects of communication strategies on organizational performance: A case
study of Kenya Ports Authority. European Journal of Business and Management, 6(11),
6-10.
LaVela, S. L., Heinemann, A. W., Etingen, B., Miskovic, A., Locatelli, S. M., & Chen, D.
(2017). Relational empathy and holistic care in persons with spinal cord injuries. The
journal of spinal cord medicine, 40(1), 30-42.
Nortjé, N., & De Jongh, J. (2015). Ethical dilemmas experienced by occupational therapy
students–the reality. African Journal of Health Professions Education, 7(2), 187-189.
Occupational Therapy and Workplace Health and Well-Being. Caot.in1touch.org. (2020).
Retrieved 17 February 2020, from https://caot.in1touch.org/document/4079/Workplace
%20Health%20and%20Well%20Being%20-%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf.
Policy on Professional Behavior. Duq.edu. (2020). Retrieved 17 February 2020, from
https://www.duq.edu/assets/Documents/health-sciences/_pdf/OT_Professional_Behavior.
pdf.
Price, B. (2017). Developing patient rapport, trust and therapeutic relationships. Nursing
Standard, 31(50), 52-63. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2017.e10909