Knowledge, Perception and Use of Spirituality Among Nigerian Occupational Therapy Practitioners
Keywords:
Nigerian Occupational Therapy Practitioners, Spirituality, Knowledge, Perception, UseAbstract
Background: In Occupational Therapy (OT) practice, spirituality is seen as a crucial and fundamental part of a holistic approach. However, the extent of its inclusion in Nigerian practice is yet to be ascertained. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, perception and use of spirituality among Nigerian OT practitioners, as well as the barriers and facilitators to its integration in practice.
Methods: Ninety-nine OT practitioners who were purposively recruited from the Occupational Therapists Association of Nigeria (OTAN) registers participated in this cross-sectional survey. The participant’s knowledge, perception and use of spirituality in practice was assessed using an adapted 47-item questionnaire on spirituality and spiritual care. Data was summarized using descriptive statistics of frequency, mean difference and standard deviation as well as inferential statistics of ANOVA and Pearson correlation.
Results: The findings showed that 16 (16.2%) of the respondents had good knowledge about spirituality in practice. However, 83 (83.8%) had a good perception of spirituality while 40 (40.4%) had used spirituality in practice. Among the respondents that used spirituality in practice, 14 (23.7%) indicated that they experienced high facilitators to the use of spirituality. The results showed that 74 (74.9%) of the respondents experienced low to moderate barriers to the use of spirituality in practice. Also, it was found that respondents that were older experienced less significant barriers to the use of spirituality in practice (F=3.48; p=0.011). Similarly, respondents with higher levels of work experience experienced significantly lesser barriers to the use of spirituality in practice (F= 9.23; p= 0.001). Furthermore, the study found that use of spirituality in OT practice significantly increases as knowledge about spirituality (r= 0.41; p= 0.012) and perception of spirituality (r= 0.50; p=0.001) increases.
Conclusion: Despite demonstrating moderate levels of knowledge and good perceptions of spirituality, less than half of Nigerian OT practitioners integrate spirituality into practice. The integration of spirituality was influenced by the presence of considerable facilitators and barriers. Younger age and fewer years of experience among the OT practitioners were associated with higher perceived barriers while use of spirituality in practice was strongly correlated with perceived facilitators.
References
1. WFOT. World Federation of Occupational Therapists. About Occupational Therapy [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2026 Feb 28]. About occupational Therapy. Available from: https://wfot.org/about/about-occupational-therapy
2. McSherry W, Jamieson S. An online survey of nurses’ perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care. J Clin Nurs. 2011;20(11–12):1757–67.
3. Misiorek A, Janus E. Spirituality in occupational therapy practice according to new graduates. OTJR (Thorofare N J). 2019;39(4):197–203.
4. Cucchi A, Qoronfleh MW. Cultural perspective on religion, spirituality and mental health. Front Psychol. 2025 Apr 2;16:1568861. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1568861.
5. Kate Ellis H, Narayanasamy A. An investigation into the role of spirituality in nursing. British journal of nursing. 2009;18(14):886–90.
6. American Occupational Therapy Association. Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process. American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2020; 62:625–83. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5014/ajot.56.6.609.
7. Chapparo C, Ranka JL. The Occupational Performance Model (Australia). In: Sakellariou D, Pollard N, editors. The Routledge Companion to Occupational Therapy. Routledge; 2025. p. 93–107.
8. Townsend EA, Polatajko HJ. Advancing an occupational therapy vision for health, well-being, and justice through occupation. Ottawa, ON: CAOT Publications ACE{guillemotleft}Enabling Occupation II présente une vue en coupe tranversale du MCRO-P pour définir et délimiter le domaine de préoccupation des ergothérapeutes, c’est-àdire l’occupation humaine. 2013.
9. Yamada T, Taylor R. Kielhofner’s Model of Human Occupation. Wolters Kluwer Philadelphia, PA, USA:; 2017.
10. Turpin M, Iwama MK, editors. Using Occupational Therapy Models in Practice: A Field Guide. 2nd ed. Elsevier; 2025
11. Christiansen CH, Bass J, Baum CM. Occupational therapy: Performance, participation, and well-being. Taylor & Francis; 2024.
12. Humbert TK. Spirituality and occupational therapy: A model for practice and research. AOTA Press, The American Occupational Therapy Association, Incorporated; 2016.
13, So H, Mackenzie L, Chapparo C, Ranka J, McColl MA. Addressing client spirituality in occupational therapy practice: A qualitative study. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. 2025 Jun;72(3): e70034.
14. Eleyinde ST, Amu V, Eleyinde AO. Recent development of occupational therapy in Nigeria: challenges and opportunities. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin. 2018;74(1):65–70.
15. Heard CP. Spirituality and occupation in living (SOiL) model: Conceptualizing occupational performance through the lens of spirituality. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2023;11(3):1-7.
16. Metzger S, Beasley J, Marheineke J, Stites A, Riley A, Byam C, et al. Occupational therapists' perceptions on addressing spirituality: A cross-sectional survey. Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2024;12(2). doi:10.15453/2168-6408.2177..
17. Amanquarnor I, Buchanan H, Ramafikeng M. Incorporating spirituality into occupational therapy practice: A Scoping Review. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2026 Apr;56(1):1-4.
18. Hemphill B. Spiritual assessments in occupational therapy. Open J Occup Ther. 2015;3(3):9.
19. Mthembu TG, Roman NV, Wegner L. A cross-sectional descriptive study of occupational therapy students’ perceptions and attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care in occupational therapy education. J Relig Health. 2016;55(5):1529–45.
20. Jansen-van Vuuren J, Aldersey HM, Lysaght R. The role and scope of occupational therapy in Africa. Disabil Rehabil. 2021;43(25):3639–51.
21. Yamane T, others. Statistics: An introductory analysis. 1973.
22. Mthembu TG, Wegner L, Roman NV. Barriers to integration of spirituality and spiritual care in occupational therapy education in a South African context. J Spiritual Ment Health. 2017;19(1):61–79.
23. Collins JS, Paul S, West-Frasier J. The utilization of spirituality in occupational therapy: Beliefs, practices, and perceived barriers. Occup Ther Health Care. 2002;14(3–4):73–92.
24. de Brito Sena MA, Damiano RF, Lucchetti G, Peres MF. Defining spirituality in healthcare: A systematic review and conceptual framework. Frontiers in psychology. 2021 Nov 18;12:756080. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756080.
25. Vajaratkar PV, Dwivedi AK. Exploring spirituality and its use as a domain of practice among Indian occupational therapists: A qualitative study. The Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2020;52(4):144–50.
26. Jones J. A qualitative study exploring how occupational therapists embed spirituality into their practice. University of Huddersfield; 2016.
27. Balboni TA, VanderWeele TJ, Doan-Soares SD, Long KN, Ferrell BR, Fitchett G, Koenig HG, Bain PA, Puchalski C, Steinhauser KE, Sulmasy DP. Spirituality in serious illness and health. JAMA. 2022 Jul 12;328(2):184-97.
28. McSherry W, Ross L, Balthip K, Ross N, Young S. Spiritual Assessment in Healthcare: An Overview of Comprehensive, Sensitive Approaches to Spiritual Assessment for Use Within the Interdisciplinary Healthcare Team. In: Timmins F, Caldeira S, editors. Spirituality in Healthcare: Perspectives for Innovative Practice [Internet]. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2019. p. 39–54. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-04420-6_3 doi:10.1007/978-3-030-04420-6_3
29. Braveman B, Bass JD. Occupational therapy: Performance, participation, and well-being. In CH Christiansen, CM Baum, JD Bass (Eds.), Occupational therapy: Performance, participation, and well-being. 4th ed. Slack Incorporated; 2015. p. 161–80.
30. Metzger S, Beasley J, Marheineke J, Stites A, Riley A, Byam C, et al. Occupational Therapists’ Perceptions on Addressing Spirituality: A Cross Sectional Survey. Open J Occup Ther. 2024 Apr 15;12(2):1–10. doi:10.15453/2168-6408.2177
31. Zollfrank AA, Trevino KM, Cadge W, Balboni MJ, Thiel MM, Fitchett G, et al. Teaching Health Care Providers To Provide Spiritual Care: A Pilot Study. J Palliat Med. 2015;18(5):408–14. doi:10.1089/jpm.2014.0306
32. Best M, Butow P, Olver I. Why do We Find It so Hard to Discuss Spirituality? A Qualitative Exploration of Attitudinal Barriers. J Clin Med. 2016;5(9):77. doi:10.3390/jcm5090077
