‘Verbal Strategies’ Used by Occupational Therapists in Direct Client Encounters

Abstract

Verbal interaction with clients is a major component of most occupational therapy interventions, yet there is a paucity of occupational therapy literature which has examined the ways therapists use verbal communication in practice. Communication accommodation is a verbal stance in which the speaker appropriately attunes his or her interaction in response to another person in order to enhance relationships and increase communicative efficiency. In this qualitative study the awareness of a group of occupational therapists regarding the use of communication accommodation was examined. Methods by which they determined the need to accommodate their speech and specific accommodation strategies they used in verbal interaction with clients were recorded.