Reflecting on Ethics in Occupational Therapy Within Community Development Practice in South Africa

Abstract

The landscape of occupational therapy is unpredictable, particularly in the field of community based care. Occupational therapists have to work with complexity and uncertainty in a fast-changing world. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) highlights the importance of ethical behaviour of healthcare professionals towards clients and believes that registered healthcare professionals should act accordingly. Occupational therapists experience many sources of conflict in their daily practices, while at the same time, they have to uphold professional values, responsibilities and duties. The first part of this chapter will set the landscape in which occupational therapists are working on a daily basis in South Africa. The second part of this chapter discusses and defines community development within community practice settings, whereas the third part of this chapter unpacks the ethical challenges experienced by occupational therapists working in community development practice settings. The fourth part of this chapter presents an example of a case study within the Fisantekraal community practice setting and in the fifth part of this chapter, the ethics principles that underpin community development practice for example in Fisantekraal, are applied and discussed. This chapter concludes with a summary of the importance of human rights, empowerment and equity as core ethical dimensions of community development practice that all healthcare professionals, including occupational therapists, should be aware of.