Therapeutic humor: attitudes and actions by occupational therapists in adult physical disabilities settings.
This study examined attitudes and uses of humor by occupational therapists with their adult clients with physical disabilities. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected occupational therapists from the American Occupational Therapy Association's Physical Disabilities Special Interest Section was used; 283 surveys qualified for the study. All of the respondents had positive attitudes towards humor and a large majority reported using humor. Four key areas of humor were further analyzed: relationships, coping, promoting physical health, and treatment compliance. While a large majority professed to value humor in each area, only about one-third reported using it in the last two areas. Humor attitudes and humor behaviors in each area showed a moderate positive correlation. Both spontaneous and planned use was reported. The results of this survey support humor use in occupational therapy practice to help clients rehabilitate.
Occupational Therapy Department, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA.
Marti
M
Southam