Client-centered & Evidence-Based Practice

Client-centered
It is very important that the deliverance of the occupational therapy service is client-centered.  To be client-centered the occupational therapist must analyze the person as an individual.  They cannot make assumptions that what works for one client will work for another.  Every client has a different set of occupations that are meaningful and important to them.  It is the therapist job to find out what occupations are important to the client, their likes and dislikes, family and cultural background, availability of resources/support, insurance/financial circumstances, and so on.  Together the practitioner and the client develop interventions and goals that are specific to the client and geared toward success.  It is a collaboration of the client's understanding and motivation towards the therapeutic process and the practitioners skilled knowledge and experience.

Evidence-Based Practice
This is the integration of research evidence into the clinical setting.  It is the foundation for valid and reliable interventions and probable outcomes.  The occupational therapist needs to know how to evaluate research evidence and apply it to therapeutic processes.  Additionally, they should also be able to collect their own data to support the intervention process.  They should use research to communicate expected outcomes of specific interventions (Crepeau et al, 2009).  The American Journal of Occupational Therapy offers a wide variety of occupational specific research.  This is an excellent tool for occupational therapy professionals.