Occupations and occupational therapy practice with Chinese older adults living with life-limiting illnesses in Singapore : A focus group study

© 2024 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Occupational Therapy Australia..

INTRODUCTION: While Singapore is rapidly ageing and the need for palliative care services is projected to rise, there has been limited exploration of the occupations of Chinese older adults with life-limiting conditions. This study is the third in a series of three studies aimed to address this issue. This study also sought to discuss future directions for occupational therapy practice with Chinese older adults living with life-limiting illnesses in Singapore.

METHOD: The study adopted a qualitative exploratory design using focus groups. Participants were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Inclusion criteria were occupational therapists who had attained full registration status with the Allied Health Professionals Council in Singapore, had two or more years of practice as an occupational therapist, and had a current or recent palliative care caseload.

FINDINGS: Three focus groups with 16 participants were conducted, and three themes were constructed from the data through reflexive thematic analysis. Reflections on culture and occupations is about the impact of a collectivist culture on occupations, such as tensions new caregivers experience between keeping clients safe and respecting clients' choices. It also highlights that there will always be individual differences within any cultural group. Challenges of occupational therapy practice in palliative care describe the need for therapists to be comfortable with rest and ethical tensions participants faced with billing for sessions that mainly involved time spent conversing with clients and when clients and caregivers' goals differed. Finally, Moving forward is about the importance of having mentors and the learning needs of occupational therapists in palliative care.

CONCLUSION: Occupational therapists experienced in providing services to palliative care clients in Singapore emphasised the collectivist nature of Singaporean Chinese families and contributed more information to its possible impact on occupations and occupational therapy practice and made suggestions for future practice.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2024

Enthalten in:

Australian occupational therapy journal - (2024) vom: 18. März

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Lim, Geck Hoon [VerfasserIn]
Yong, Celine [VerfasserIn]
Breen, Lauren J [VerfasserIn]
Keesing, Sharon [VerfasserIn]
Buchanan, Angus [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Chinese
Culture
Journal Article
Occupational therapy
Older adults
Palliative care

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 19.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status Publisher

doi:

10.1111/1440-1630.12942

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369891457