Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Anne M. Haskins

Keywords

Patient Satisfaction; Professional-Patient Relations; Treatment Outcome

Abstract

Healthcare institutions have become businesses and, subsequently, these institutions are oftentimes structured to maximize profits consequently leading to a sacrifice in quality of care (Beltrán-Salazar, 2014). The emphasis on business in healthcare results in a push for productivity and reimbursement consequently decreasing attention to the therapeutic relationship. There are many definitions that offer a better understanding to the idea of therapeutic use of self, but they offer little to guide therapists in what using therapeutic use of self looks like in everyday practice (Solman & Clouston, 2016). Additionally, a vast majority of occupational therapists perceive the therapeutic relationship to be vital elements to engagement in therapy, however, only half of therapists feel they sufficient knowledge about use of self beyond the basics he or she learned during their education (Taylor, Lee, Kielhofner, & Ketkar, 2009).

A literature review was conducted on the current state of healthcare, topics relating to the 5 Love Languages (Chapman, 1992), lack of humanized client-centered care, therapeutic use of self, and the influence of use of self on therapy outcomes and client satisfaction. Concepts from the Canadian Model of Client Centered Enablement (CMCE) (Townsend et al., 2013), the framework of the 5 Love Languages, and information obtained from the literature review were used to guide development of the product.

The final product is a guidebook that is intended to be used by occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants or the healthcare team. We believe the application of the 5 Love Languages to the therapeutic relationship will improve the therapy process for both the practitioner and the client and result in improved therapy outcomes.

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