Client perception of a client-centered and occupation-based intervention for at-risk youth

Abstract

The youth in this study described OT interventions exemplifying client-centered and occupation-based therapy, a non-prescriptive approach that validates the individual and may prove especially effective in serving the at-risk youth population.

Serving High-Risk Youth in Context: Perspectives from Hong Kong

“…So, we want to empower young people, and we believe that once we give them reliable information and provide them room to discuss these issues, they can make their own choices. These approaches have been found effective in buffering the at-risk youth's negative self-image, cultivating a trusting relationship between the practitioner and the youth, and engaging the youth in healthy activities (Brummelman et al, 2014;Lee, 2013;Shea, & Jackson, 2015).…”

“…However, occupational therapy may have a wider potential for serving high-risk youth in HK using strength-based methods. Occupational therapists are uniquely skilled in using a client-centered approach to assess and identify not only occupational deficits but also strengths and interests (Shea & Jackson, 2015). Occupational therapists can contribute to the youth intervention process through analyzing occupational performances, matching youth with specific environments, and modifying activities to create a just-right challenge for the youth to participate successfully (Shea & Jackson, 2015).…”

“…Occupational therapists are uniquely skilled in using a client-centered approach to assess and identify not only occupational deficits but also strengths and interests (Shea & Jackson, 2015). Occupational therapists can contribute to the youth intervention process through analyzing occupational performances, matching youth with specific environments, and modifying activities to create a just-right challenge for the youth to participate successfully (Shea & Jackson, 2015). The OTTP staffs both occupational therapists and social workers, whose partnership maximizes benefits to youth by complimenting social workers' community knowledge and psychosocial processing skills with occupational therapists' expertise in engaging youth in meaningful occupations contextually.…”

“…For many youth, however, environmental risk factors, such as poverty, ready access to drugs or weapons, family instability, peer pressure, and criminal justice involvement, further challenge their successful participation in daily life (World Health Organization, 2017). Youth who experience these barriers are often identified as high risk, and contextual factors, such as cultural expectations, educational status, and personal history, also shape each youth's response to adverse environments (Shea & Jackson, 2015). Moreover, client factors, such as insight, emotional regulation, self-concept, motivation, and self-identified values, contribute to the unique personal ecology that determines whether a youth participates in or avoids occupational pursuits (Shea & Jackson, 2015).…”

“…Youth served by the OTTP experience an array of the psychosocial, environmental, and contextual barriers described above and are considered susceptible to poor life outcomes (Moore, Vandivere, & Redd, 2006). The OTTP occupational therapists use a clientcentered occupation-based approach to promote each youth client's success in assuming age-appropriate life roles in all domains (Shea & Jackson, 2015).…”