Effective communication with the parents of pediatric clients is considered an essential skill and encompasses the verbal exchanging of ideas, listening, and non-verbal communication (Taylor, 2020). Similarly, the therapeutic use of self is integral to the practice of occupational therapy and consists of the conscious enhancement of communication through the use of planned strategies for intentional client-therapist interactions (Taylor, 2020). However, many occupational therapy practitioners report communication challenges, such as parent emotional expressions (Andrews et al., 2013) and discussing parent roles and expectations (Kruijsen-Terpstra et al., 2016 ), and implementing the therapeutic use of self in practice (Bonsaksen et al., 2013). Furthermore, factors such as the limited availability of communication skills training, a limited understanding of how to practice reflection to enhance communication self-awareness (King et al., 2017), and decreased self-efficacy (Coad et al., 2018) hinder the opportunity for practitioners to enhance their communication competencies. The following chapters discuss the evidence base and guiding theories informing the development of the proposed program, Communicate to Collaborate. Communicate to Collaborate is a communication skills training that aims to strengthen pediatric therapy practitioners’ interpersonal communication skills so that how they communicate with families becomes an active, mediating ingredient in their therapy interventions. Through program participation, it is anticipated practitioners will gain greater awareness of both their personal communication approaches and parent’s communication preferences and increased self-efficacy in how to communicate intentionally with parents, thus enhancing their therapeutic use of self in practice and improving the quality of family-centered pediatric therapy services.

Barn med funktionsnedsättning tenderar att ha svårigheter att delta och engagera sig i aktiviteter. I familjecentrerat arbete involverar arbetsterapeuten föräldrarna i barnets terapiprocess. Detta då föräldrarna har kunskaper kring hela familjesituationen och har kunskaper kring barnet som arbetsterapeuten behöver ta hänsyn till. Syftet med studien var att i familjecentrerat arbete kartlägga arbetsterapeutens förhållningssätt till föräldrar vars barn har en funktionsnedsättning. Mer specifikt att beskriva arbetsterapeutens interaktion till föräldrarna utifrån The Intentional relationship Model (IRM) samt beskriva positiva och negativa mellanmänskliga händelser som uppstår i interaktionen utifrån varje förhållningssätt. En litteraturstudie användes som metod och databassökningen genomfördes i de tre databaserna PsycINFO, PubMed och Cinahl. IRM användes i analysen för att granska om arbetsterapeuten, i interaktionen med föräldrarna, använde förhållningssätten empatiskt, samarbetande, problemlösande, uppmuntrande, instruerande eller förespråkande. I resultatet framkom att arbetsterapeuter använde alla förhållningssätt utifrån IRM. Det samarbetande förhållningssättet och det empatiska förhållningssättet användes mest, uppmuntrande och förespråkande minst. Studien visar att arbetsterapeutens val av förhållningssätt är viktigt för att undvika att negativa mellanmänskliga händelser påverkar den terapeutiska relationen. Dessa uppstod ofta i interaktionen med föräldrar med annan etnicitet. Studien belyser också att kunskapen om de olika förhållningssätten bör utökas. Mer specifikt bör kunskap kring när och hur ett förhållningssätt kan användas undersökas genom forskning. / Children with disabilities tend to have difficulties with participating and engaging in activities. Occupational therapists who work in family-centered care involve the parents in the children´s therapy process. This is because the parents have knowledge about the family situation and they also know about factors in the children’s life which the occupational therapist needs to recognize. The purpose of this study was to map the occupational therapist’s approach to parents in family-centered care in cases which involve children with disabilities. More specifically, the study described the occupational therapist´s interaction with parents based on the Intentional Relationship Model (IRM). Also, it described positive and negative interpersonal events in the occupational therapist´s interaction with parents based on each relationship. This was a literature review, and a database search was made in PsycINFO, PubMed and Cinahl. IRM was used in the analysis to review the occupational therapist´s interaction and to determine whether it was empathizing, collaborating, problem-solving, encouraging, instructing or advocating. The results showed that occupational therapists used all of the approaches in IRM. Collaborating and empathizing occurred more than the other types of interaction, while encouraging and advocating occurred the least. The study has shown that the occupational therapist's choice of approach is important in order to avoid any negative interpersonal events that can have an impact on the therapeutic relationship. Connections occur between parents of another ethnicity and negative interpersonal events. The study also highlighted that knowledge about the different approaches should be expanded. In particular, knowledge about how and when to use a specific approach should be examined.