Date Presented 04/03/2025
Chaviza, the deaf community of Zanzibar, hosted 21 Canadian Occupational Performance Measure interviews, reviewed for cultural relevance. Narrative needs assessments were performed with emergent supports, and barriers were identified for increased inclusion in the greater population.
Primary Author and Speaker: Geela Spira
Contributing Authors: Abdalla Baafarijiy
PURPOSE & DESIGN: The organization of the deaf community of Zanzibar- Chaviza, hosted this author to perform semi-structured interviews using a condensed form of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) as a narrative needs assessment in order to obtain an understanding of the barriers encountered in their daily lives (Hivos, 2021; Law et al., 2019).
METHOD: Members of the Chaviza organization were recruited by their Director for participation. 21 participants agreed to join the study. The data was analyzed to identify supports and barriers for enhanced occupational performance and participation in their society as well as looking at population- based solutions which could be advocated by OT. The questionnaires were reviewed for cultural relevance.
RESULTS: The COPM was successful in identifying areas of occupational injustice, an unexpected result. Three main needs emerged as community barriers were identified: A need for specialized deaf education, for structured job placement, and a need for certified sign language interpreters trained by deaf community members. Culturally relevant supports noted were community self- reliance and a sense of belongingness to the local deaf community.
CONCLUSION: These enabling factors could be leveraged for the success of the community. The study is collaborative with Chaviza to empower and enable the organization to work towards change in their culture and governmental policies.
IMPACT STATEMENT: The role of occupational therapy in international cultures requires a population-based approach with cultural competence and relevance to the participants in promoting function and partnership in goal establishment. Use of OT assessment tools (COPM) can enable occupation-focused population-based solutions for OTs, such as occupational therapists encouraging advocacy rights for deaf communities internationally.
References
Bailliard, A. L., Dallman, A. R., Carroll, A., Lee, B. D., & Szendrey, S. (2020). Doing Occupational Justice: A Central Dimension of Everyday Occupational Therapy Practice. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 87(2):144–152. https://doi:10.1177/0008417419898930
Law, M., Baptiste, S., Carswell, A., McColl, M. A., Polatajko, H. J. & Pollock, N. (2019). Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. 5th ed. COPM Inc.
Leigh, I. W., & O’Brien, C. A. (2019). Deaf Identities: Exploring New Frontiers. Oxford University Press.
Van Wessel, M. Ho, W., & Tamas, P. (2021). Narrative Assessment: A new method for monitoring, evaluating, learning, and communicating about advocacy. Waginingen University & Research and Hivos. https://hivos.org/assets/2021/09/Narrative-Assessment.pdf
