Attitudes of occupational therapists toward spirituality in practice

Objective. This study examined (a) occupational therapists' attitudes about spirituality in practice on the basis of whether they identified themselve s as religious, (b) whether their personal definition of spirituality relat ed to their religiousness, (c) whether their definition related to their at titude about spirituality in practice, and (d) the methods they used to add ress the spiritual needs of clients. Method. An attitude questionnaire was developed and mailed to 336 American occupational therapists. Fifty-two percent (n = 206) of the mailed question naires were analyzed. Results. Overall, participants indicated a slightly positive attitude towar d spirituality in occupational therapy practice. Participants who considere d themselves to be religious indicated a more positive view toward spiritua lity in practice than those who did not consider themselves to be religious . Religiousness accounted for only 28% of the variance in choice of spiritu ality definition, indicating that additional variables account for what det ermines therapists' definitions of spirituality. No relationship was found between personal definition choice and attitude regarding Spirituality in p ractice. The three methods most commonly used to address the spiritual need s of their clients were to (a) pray for a client, (b) use spiritual languag e or concepts with a client, and (c) discuss with clients ways that their r eligious beliefs were helpful. Conclusion. Therapists' conceptualization of spirituality and attitudes abo ut spirituality in occupational therapy practice are quite diverse.