South Asian Heritage Month began in 2020 and runs from 18 July–17 August each year.
The month helps us focus on understanding the diverse heritage, communities and cultures that link the UK with South Asia.
You can learn more about South Asian Heritage Month at southasianheritage.org.uk
Our recommended reading list
As a person-centred profession, occupational therapists understand better than most the impact and power of being able to engage and participate in one's own culture and with the communities around us. From food, clothing, music, words, festivals and in daily life, South Asian culture has made a significant impact on the UK.
To support our learning during South Asian Heritage Month, our Digital Library have suggested three books to build knowledge and understanding.
These books can be found in our library catalogue and access to them and the whole catalogue is included through RCOT membership.
Occupational therapy disruptors
What global OT practice can teach us about innovation, culture, and community
by Sheela Roy Ivlev
Published: 2024
This anthology collates 16 unique and powerful perspectives from occupational therapists around the globe, each highlighting the culture that they are a part of and how it informs their work and care. Ranging across almost every continent in the world including stories from Aotearoa to the Gaza Strip to Dhaka and beyond. It offers a decolonised re-examination of occupational therapy through a poignant, global lens.
Based on a series of interviews conducted by Sheela Roy Ivlev, each account provides candid and personal reflections and challenges found in occupational therapy in different cultural and political contexts and inspires occupational therapists to enrich their own practice with cultural awareness and reflexivity.
With reflection prompts and calls to action at the end of each chapter, this is an invaluable resource for occupational therapists looking to develop a more diverse, culturally-informed understanding of their practice.
Culturally competent compassion
A guide for healthcare students and practitioners
by Irena Papadopoulos
Published: 2018
Bringing together the crucially important topics of cultural competence and compassion for the first time, this book explores how to practise ‘culturally competent compassion’ in healthcare settings – that is, understanding the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it using culturally appropriate and acceptable caring interventions.
This text first discusses the philosophical and religious roots of compassion before investigating notions of health, illness, culture and multicultural societies. Drawing this information together, it then introduces two invaluable frameworks for practice, one of cultural competence and one of culturally competent compassion, and applies them to care scenarios. Papadopoulos goes on to discuss:
- how nurses in different countries understand and provide compassion in practice
- how students learn about compassion
- how leaders can create and champion compassionate working environments
- how we can, and whether we should, measure compassion.
Culturally Competent Compassion is essential reading for healthcare students and its combination of theoretical content and practice application provides a relevant and interesting learning experience. The innovative model for practice presented here will also be of interest to researchers exploring cultural competence and compassion in healthcare.
World religions for healthcare professionals
by Siroj Sorajjakool, Mark F. Carr and Ernest J. Bursey
Published: 2017
Religious beliefs and customs can significantly shape patients' and professionals' attitudes toward, and expectations of, healthcare, as well as their wishes and personal boundaries regarding such daily matters as dress, diet, prayer and touch. Undoubtedly, the sensitivity with which clinicians communicate with patients and make decisions regarding appropriate medical intervention can be greatly increased by an understanding of religious as well as other forms of cultural diversity.
This second edition of a popular and established text offers healthcare students and professionals a clear and concise overview of health beliefs and practices in world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism, Sikhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Adopting a consistent structure, each chapter considers the demographic profile of the community, the religion’s historical development and key beliefs and practices, including views regarding health and sickness, death and dying. Each chapter also ends with a useful checklist of advice on what to do and what to avoid, along with recommendations for further reading, both online and in print form.
More to learn
We hope you find the above resources helpful.
Be sure to explore our Digital Library for other resources.
Let us know on our social media channels if there's any other texts you'd recommend or if you're taking part on any South Asian Heritage Month events as part of the occupational therapy community.