Spirituality and children: Perspectives of occupational therapists working with children.

Abstract

Spirituality is included as a core part of occupational therapy models, as it can enhance connectedness and belonging and provide meaning to occupations. However, research that has explored occupational therapists' perspectives on spirituality has found that a lack of education and understanding of the concept means that currently many therapists do not address it in their practice. Existing research focusses on adult clients, and there is no known published research that focusses on occupational therapists working with children and their views on spirituality in clinical practice. This study explored the perspectives of occupational therapists working with children on spirituality in their clinical practice with children. This study used a qualitative descriptive design. Participants included 20 registered occupational therapists working with children in Australia. Data were collected using focus groups and interviews and analysed using thematic analysis to determine key themes. Five themes were developed: (1) vagueness and subjectivity of spirituality, (2) overlapping characteristics of spirituality and religion, (3) indirect focus on spirituality, (4) differences in children's spirituality, and (5) outcomes of addressing spirituality. Occupational therapists working with children report difficulty conceptualising spirituality and describing its role in clinical practice with children. Despite this, most suggested that spirituality is indirectly applied and has a role in improving the wellbeing of children. There is a need for exploration of how to directly support the use of spirituality in practice with children to further support holistic and family-centred care.