1. We can define an occupation as an action or an activity that a person participates in, but within the view that the person experiences it (Pierce, 2003 & Pierce, 201). Occupation is not just executing the action. We can study occupations as a whole, in the sense of patterns. For example, completing homework is an occupation that students typically take part in. However, to actually define the occupation, the person participating in the action must express how the activity pertains to him and his meaning for doing it. Occupations are individualistic and shape people's way of living and are meaningful to them. People have different ways of experiencing occupations as Pierce mentioned in his session with a boy. Pierce believed that the action …show more content…
Occupations are applied in terms of Occupational Therapy to offer holistic healing and health to clients. Occupational therapy not only focuses on the physical aspects of regaining indecency over occupation but also on the mental and emotional aspects of the need to engage in occupation. In the article by Ann Wilock she discusses how Occupational Therapy focuses on specific occupations and how people do them why they do them and how it gives them meaning and purpose. Wilcock focuses on the doing and being of human life. She discusses how we as humans need things to do to feel and be healthy and how we also need a sense of being (living) (Wilcock, 1999). Occupational therapists apply occupations knowing that they are important to foster a sense of purpose and that they are a pre-requisite to health and wellness. In our occupation by design text we see that occupations must be designed by Occupational Therapist for appeal, intactness, and accuracy (Pierce, 2003). This way we can be sure the application of Occupation results in pleasure and usefulness within the means of the patients’ typical environment. Overall, occupations are applied by occupational therapist in their practices to provide an overall …show more content…
The science of occupation is the studying of occupations to better understand them and what they mean to people. Zemke & Clark defined it specifically as “an academic discipline, the purpose of which is to generate knowledge about the form, function, and meaning of human occupation (Zemke & Clark, 1996 p. vii).” It is the basic science for Occupational Therapy as sociology is for social work and physics is for engineering (Pierce, 2003). Occupational science sees the importance of occupation in terms of health, being, and purpose. It seeks to find ways to use occupation not only for healing but also for social interaction and community building in general. It is also the means for which Occupational Therapy can be seen as a more evidenced-based practice through the research of occupational scientist. Without this field it would be difficult to develop ways to apply occupational within the field of occupational therapy and also to develop new ways and rework old ways of using occupation for health and
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Show MoreOccupational therapy oriented my religious upbringing and principles with the desire to improve the health and welfare of others. It provided me with the an avenue in which I could help others regain control over aspects of their life that were lost and thus provide hope. Occupational therapy is defined as “helping people across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities”. The inherent value of occupational therapy is often underestimated and passed over. Occupational therapists do everything from helping children with disabilities so that they can fully engage in school activities to helping those who lost bodily functions in accidents to recover usage of their limbs.
When I was 15, my grandmother suffered from a severe stroke and was advised to go to a rehabilitation center. At that time I had not ever heard of the profession called occupational therapy. Upon visiting my grandmother, I had the opportunity to witness several health care professionals working together to help rehabilitate her. I have always wanted to engage in a career in which I could attribute to helping people, and at first I thought physical therapy would best compliment my natural abilities but then I encountered the occupational therapist. So as I watched her work with my grandmother diligently I realized that I had found exactly what I was looking for.
Occupational therapy has a multifaceted nature providing endless opportunities to serve a wide range of people within many environments, which is just one of the reasons I love this occupation. My long term goals enlist the desire to maximize my knowledge and abilities to care and supplement the lives of anyone that may cross my path in this career. I have seen occupational therapy positively impact the lives of people around me, and I strive to be a bigger role on the team helping make that happen.
My initial exposure to the field of Occupational Therapy was not until my Junior year of college. While sitting in an auditorium for an Intro to Health Professions course, listening to a licensed occupational therapist describe her daily work tasks, I began visualizing myself in her position to see if this career would be fitting for me. Because of my life long interest in science coupled with my natural empathy towards people, I had known for a long time that I wanted to be in the health field but struggled to settle with the career choices I had initially been presented. As I imagined myself being an occupational therapist, my mind began to flood with ideas and aspirations of what I could accomplish in this field using the strengths I had been developing over the past 22 years of my life
Occupational science in practice enables therapists to understand the patient as an occupational being, thus enabling the therapist to implement assessments that are occupationally focused, especially during the early stages of the occupational therapy process.
Pre Occupational Therapists help and provide services for patients of all ages with injuries, illnesses, and disabilities to get through the everyday activities. They help these patients relearn and improve the skills and activities that we use in our everyday lives. Occupational therapists all have different tasks. For example, some occupational therapists work at schools, with doctors, registered nurses, in-home health organizations, and some are a part of a health care team. Pre Occupational therapist’s students graduate undergraduate school with their Bachelor degree of Science in Health Science. But in order to really practice in the pre occupational therapy profession students must go to graduate school to get their master’s degree or
People across the world participate in recovery programs every day. Dedicated people in professions, such as occupational therapy, work to help each person regain his or her ability to engage in everyday activities. One wishing to pursue a career in occupational therapy would first need to evaluate the career and the significant effects on themselves and the clients.
Occupation is defined as “activites of everyday life, names, organized and given meaning by individuals and a culture” (Association, 2006). This article also discusses the historical aspects of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy was founded by many different professionals with different backgrounds, that came together to share the same idea about how occupational therapy should be and the importance of activites for a person. This article also talks about different types of services that occupational therapy offers. Occupational therapists and assistances can work in many different settings. With the variety of settings a therapist and assistance can work in, the services that are offered there are different. Some different services that can be offered at these settings can include community mobility skills, stress management, alternative routines and habits, and more. It is important for therapists and assistances to know what settings offer what type of services when they are referencing their client to a new setting. The last topic this article discussed
I find occupational therapy to pique my drive to teach people valuable life skills as well as learn from those people and their experiences. Being an occupational therapist would allow me to have one-on-one interactions with patients and establish meaningful relationships over the course of time. It would also give me the dutiful privilege and responsibility of instilling confidence in others and helping them realize their full potential in self-suffiency. All of my personal experiences, challenges, educational backgrounds, and professional interactions have guided me toward pursuing my goals of gaining experience working in all populations, enabling patients to thrive in their daily lifestyle, and spread public awareness of what OT has
Townsend & Polatajko (2007) state that “Occupational therapy is the art and science of enabling engagement in everyday living, through occupation; of enabling people to perform the occupations that foster health and well-being; and of enabling a just and inclusive society so that all people may participate to their potential in the daily occupations of life”.
The goals of occupational therapy are promoting physical, mental health and well-being of individuals with or without disability ( Burson, Fette, Orentlicher, Precin, Roush & Kannenberg, 2017). However, with medical model has become the primary focus in healthcare, Occupational therapists have declined working in the mental health sectors. In recent years, the AOTA has been promoting Occupational Therapists to return to the root of psychiatry (Ikiugu, Nissen, Bellar, Maassen, & Peursem, 2017), with the increase need of mental health care providers, future occupational therapists may consider working in school setting, and become integrated with school-based mental interventions, providing occupational interventions for the children that are
witnessed first-hand the impact occupational therapy can make in people’s lives, watching the delight of a
Kielhofner (2009) states “In the late 1940’s and the 1950s, occupational therapy came under pressure from medicine to establish a new theoretical rationale for its practice. Critiques arose from both Medicine and physicians regarding the concepts used in occupational therapy. Based on those comments, occupational realized the immediate need for a new paradigm. As Kielhofner mentioned “Occupational therapist came to believe it would bring occupational therapist recognition as an efficacious medical service and increase its scientific respectabilities
OT was founded in 1917(Barker Schwartz, 2003). Since then, the paradigm has shifted twice, resulting in three different paradigms. Kielhofner (2009) describes the first paradigm as paradigm of occupation that prevailed within occupational therapy from its founding until the 1940s. This paradigm views occupation as an essential part of life and health and focuses on the environment and mind rather than body and impairment. Occupation was seen as a therapeutic tool and a way of achieving dignity for the individual. These values arose due to the influences of social and health care movements of pragmatism, Arts and Crafts movement, and moral...
Occupational therapy is grounded on the idea that participation and engagement in occupations improves health, wellness, and quality of life of those impaired by disease and/or injury (Arbesman & Logsdon, 2011; Gutman, Kerner, Zombek, Dulek, & Ramsey, 2009; Gutman et al., 2007; Oka et al., 2004). Unfortunately, patients’ diagnosed with a mental health condition continue to suffer from social injustice, occupational deprivation, and disparity (Krishnan, 2015). Social injustice is a form of inequality in which individuals are not granted equal access to perform in meaningful occupations and/or are forced to participate in occupations in which they do not want to partake in (Creek, 2011). Occupational deprivation occurs as a result of external factors prohibiting an individual from using their capacities to the fullest. Occupational deprivation brings along serious consequences such as occupational imbalance and failure to develop and/or maintain normal function (Creek, 2011). Occupational imbalance can be defined as the imbalance of participation in occupations such as rest, play, work, and leisure (Creek, 2011). Occupational disparity