Experiences with Young Refugees in Austria

Background: In our internship in January 2016 we work with young refugees and asylum seekers, in the age between 16 and 26 years. They are attending school in an Austrian refugee project. The goal of our internship is to... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
In our internship in January 2016 we work with young refugees and asylum seekers, in the age between 16 and 26 years. They are attending school in an Austrian refugee project. The goal of our internship is to understand the occupational needs of young people who have been forced to flee out of their home countries. We want to empower them so that they can be active and show them possibilities about how to manage their daily life. Due to their flight they cannot maintain their former occupations and therefore they lost their daily structure. As occupational therapist students we now offer support so that they can reactivate their old occupations or find new important ones.

Theoretical underpinning:
The theoretical underpinning refers to the CMOP-E and the concept of occupational deprivation.

Assessment / Intervention:
After we interviewed the refugees and found out about their occupational needs we want to provide them with a range of possibilities and ideas to perform some occupations that they have chosen in order to prevent occupational deprivation.

Evaluation of outcome:
The outcome will be evaluated through a questionnaire.

Application to practice:
Presenting work experiences with displaced people to a broad community seems important considering the political situation in Europe at the moment. Additionally thinking that this is currently a role that is emerging in occupational therapy all over Europe a platform for exchanging experiences and discussing core competencies in this field should be provided.