A NEW APPROACH TO EMPOWER CLIENTS RESILIENCE; AND ITS THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING

Background: In the last years resilience has been receiving growing interest regarding its potential influence on health, well-being and quality of life. For a long time resilience was thought to be inborn or hereditary.... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
In the last years resilience has been receiving growing interest regarding its potential influence on health, well-being and quality of life. For a long time resilience was thought to be inborn or hereditary. Recent research shows now that it is influenced by inter- and intrapersonal factors as well as environmental factors and that it can be developed throughout life. Together with the OT Department of the University Hospital Bern, we have developed an approach to empower clients in strengthening their resilience.
Theoretical underpinning: In social science, resilience has been defined as the ability of a person to recover from, adjust to, change or resist stressful circumstances.
Resilience is closely related to the core concept of the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which is to gain positive psychological flexibility. Resilience can also be view from the perspective of “doing”. This perspective gives deeper insights in the meaning of doing in relation to resilience.
Intervention: The new approach focuses on mini-activities that can be integrated into daily routines. Doing these specific mini-activities will empower clients to strengthen their self-efficacy as relevant factor of resilience.
Evaluation: The focus of the presentation will be to shortly introduce and critically discuss the theoretical underpinning of this new approach.
Application to practice:
Participants will increase their awareness of the importance of resilience in OT practice. Furthermore they will know the theoretical background of a newly developed approach to empower client’s resilience.