Microcredentials: Culture & Religion in Occupational Therapy

MICROCREDENTIAL PROGRAMMING

Presented by Dr. Bekah Bourgeois and Dr. Barbara Milliken

1 contact hour

Description:

This elective explores how cultural and religious beliefs shape clients’ occupational roles, routines, and therapeutic needs. Participants will reflect on their own assumptions and learn how to adapt assessments and interventions in respectful, client-centered ways. The course emphasizes honoring cultural and religious values while supporting autonomy, engagement, and meaningful participation in occupational therapy practice.

Objectives:

• Analyze how cultural and religious beliefs intersect with client’s occupational roles, routines, and outcomes.
• Evaluate personal cultural and religious assumptions and their potential impact on clinical judgement, therapeutic relationships, and intervention planning.
• Apply culturally and religiously responsive adaptations to assessments and interventions to ensure client-centered and respectful care.
• Create strategies that integrate clients’ religious and cultural values into occupational therapy practice, promoting autonomy, engagement, and meaningful participation.

Presenter Bios:

Dr. Milliken is a tenured research associate professor at Cleveland State University. Her occupational therapy career began with a BS from The Ohio State University. Later, she received an MSHS with a focus on Clinical Bioethics from Cleveland State University and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Akron. She has advanced certifications in: Stress and Trauma Studies; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia; Validation Worker Certification; and is a MARI (Mandala Assessment Research Instrument) Practitioner and Teacher. Her clinical specialty is mental health and she currently does telehealth with women in an intensive outpatient program for trauma recovery. Research interests include trauma-informed care, OT and spirituality, the development of empathy, sleep, programming needs of incarcerated women, and interdisciplinary teams.

Dr. Rebekah “Bekah” Bourgeois is an occupational therapist who works primarily with older adults across skilled nursing, long-term care, assisted living, and acute care settings. She is also a Professor of Health Science and an adjunct MOT instructor, as well as the founder of Everyday Aging Co., a platform designed to support caregivers. Bekah currently serves as Treasurer for the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association. She’s passionate about helping students translate classroom learning into real-world clinical reasoning, and her clinical work focuses on improving quality of life for long-term care residents through meaningful, functional interventions.