The Immigrant Client: Issues in Developing Culturally Sensitive Practice

Abstract

A new challenge to the client-centred approach of occupational therapy emerges as therapists consider how best to meet the needs of the culturally different client How culture is conceptualized carries considerable implication for the ways in which this challenge may be met. Occupational therapy literature is building a body of knowledge concerning the sociocultural implications of practice. Ethnographic studies in the social sciences, which emphasize the complexity of the relationship between culture, environment and health experiences, contribute to the further development of an understanding of the immigrant client, and provide direction for both clinical practice and research.