Can Disability Studies Contribute to Client-Centred Occupational Therapy Practice?

Abstract

Occupational therapists frequently cite a ‘client-centred’ approach as a fundamental aspect of their practice. However, there are many examples in the narratives of disabled people that suggest that the health and social care services they experience do not quite meet this aspiration. The authors propose that an understanding of disability from disabled people's perspectives is elemental to client-centred practice and that knowledge of the academic discipline of disability studies can contribute to authentic client-centred occupational therapy.