Occupational Therapists
Defining Occupation
Dr Anne Roberts
Associate Professor, Plymouth University
2011
Rationale and aim
• At the moment our understanding of the term
“occupation” is defined by what is written in
academic, mainly Western literature.
However, with praxis in mind (the interface
between theory and practice), I am interested
in how occupational therapists themselves
understand and define the concept of
occupation; by occupational therapists I
mean novice and experienced local and
international occupational therapists.
This paper synthesises the findings of three
small studies which explored how
occupational therapists define and explain
what occupation is. The findings are
presented as a basis for discussion of the
components of occupation as they cannot
be widely transferred to other settings at this
point.
Research question
• How do occupational
therapists understand
and define the
concept of
occupation?
The studies…
• All three studies employed a qualitative design, using
semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. All
received ethical approval.
• The first study (Roberts and Rugg 2008) was of 6
experienced occupational therapists from a range of
UK settings. It also looked at whether they were
occupation focused in practice.
• The second was a study of 8 experienced international
occupational therapists (Roberts and Rugg 2010) (by
e-mail interview)
• The third was a study of 12 third year student
occupational therapists in the UK (Roberts, Gane,
Harris, Hymer 2011).
Findings
• Occupation was described as providing
accomplishment/fulfilment, social
connection, satisfaction and fun, selfidentity/social identity/self esteem, roles
and routines, feelings of health and
wellbeing.
• These findings concur with the theoretical
and empirical literature
Common findings
Occupation is
Student OTs
UK OTs
Worldwide OTs
Social connectedness
Belonging Hammell (2004)
Ikuigu (2005)
Leufstadius et al (2008). Wright St Clair et al
(2005). Hasselkus 2011.
Self identity
Christiansen (1999)
Wright St Clair et al (2005)
“being part of a community through
doing, giving and sharing with
others, supporting each other,
socialising, having company, being
with friends and making friends”
“It doesn’t matter what
people do, so long as it
involves being with people
and having some purpose.”
“Occupation can be any social
activity, helping someone adapt,
from Cats Protection League to
free-fall parachuting.”
“Occupations help you to fit in
with society's norms;
contributing and functioning in
society”
“everyone knows me as a horse
person and yes, it totally is my
identity”
“I believe it is meaningful to
someone when the occupation
has significance in their
lives…. and the values and
beliefs of a person help shape
what people find significant”
Accomplishment/fulfilment/purpose
Doing Wilcock (1998);Hammell (2004)
Leufstadius et al (2008)
Ikuigu (2005)
“it’s a charity which does seem
particularly well run, that has very
good principles…you feel part of
something bigger that’s doing a
really good job and have got high
standards that has meaning to me”
Satisfaction and fun
Self reward value (Persson et al 2001)
(Leufstadius et al (2008). Ikuigu (2005)
Feelings of health and wellbeing
(Leufstadius et al 2008. Being (Wilcock 1998
Hammell 2004). Flow (Czimihalyi
Routines/structure to the day
Leufstadius et al (2008). Christiansen (2000).
Ikuigu (2005). Hasselkus (2011). Townsend
& Polatajko (2007)
“If it’s windy you’ve got the oh my
god this is terrifying feeling and
your heart starts beating really
fast…..like being on a roller
coaster”
“there’s no time aspect when I’m
pottering about….I just feel very
centred and very in the moment”
*she started volunteering in the
school she had a chair, a big red
comfy armchair ….and the kids
would queue up to read to
her…And she absolutely loved it,
the teacher loved it, the kids
loved it
“eventually we got her working as
a WRVS helper, doing the coffee
bar … people coming in in a bit
of trepidation, and she’s able to
have a cup of tea and … a chat,
so then she gets positive
feedback …she’s gone from
strength to strength.”
“And they are going to benefit
from it but if you can find
something that ticks all the boxes
and is fun and enjoyable and
they look forward to it”
”if you can engage people and
facilitate them in engaging
themselves in something new or
something they had in the past it
can just do so much for them
“Golf is key, absolutely key, to
her existence and to her week,
her structure, her sense of
self-esteem.”
”It (cooking) has a definite
beginning, middle and end. That’s
good for me…the activity has got a
discernable structure”
The successful completion of
a small task can motivate the
person to do something else.
Occupation allows people to
feel better about themselves
“the things that just need to
get done daily… part of daily
routine… things you invest
your time in …. that bring
fulfilment, enjoyment or
achievement”
However..
These concepts were inter-related!
It seems overly simplistic to
separate them, as we can see
from the quotes that follow…
Social connection, role,
self esteem, self identity
• “She became absolutely, hugely depressed
and very ill … she’d lost her role, she lived
alone ... she had very little going on …
eventually we … got her working as a WRVS
helper, doing the coffee bar … she’s a very
social person, so it’s ideal … people coming
in in a bit of trepidation, and she’s able to
have a cup of tea and … a chat, so then she
gets positive feedback … and she’s gone
from strength to strength.” (Experienced OT)
Enjoyment/satisfaction/
routine/self esteem
“Golf is key, absolutely
key, to her existence
and to her week, her
structure, her sense of
self-esteem.” Experienced OT
Social connection/ role/ self esteem
feelings of wellbeing
• A lady called Beryl who was in her
seventies and had never married
and was adopted and her family
had all died, so she was entirely on
her own and in her younger days
she had been a midwife and had
absolutely loved children; she lived
in a tiny flat with almost no view
and no neighbours that were
particularly friendly or anything and
she got very depressed…mental
health team etc. and so I see her
and out comes this thing………
The Beryl Chair
Fun/satisfaction/self identity
• “Enabling people to
do what they want to
do” International OT.
“Occupation can be
any social activity,
helping someone
adapt, from Cats
Protection League to
freefall parachuting.”
Experienced OT
Dilys age 72
The Environment also has a role in shaping
occupation
Finally the student OTs and
the experienced UK OTs
recognised the importance
of environment…..
• “Working with the whole
picture in a less than
ideal environment …
keeping a favoured
occupation at all cost.”
Experienced OT
• “…. participants
described the importance
of being outdoors,”
•
Student OT
BUT occupation can also be ...
• Passive (sleep, rst)
• Anti-social
• Pleasurable, relaxing and not
health giving
“occupation may not be all
positive as it can also contribute
to a poor sense of self and feeling
of failure.” International OT
“so whether we like it or not
someone’s occupation for them
might be not very pleasant in
terms of this society's benefit, you
know drug taking …occupation
doesn’t mean its good for all but it
might be meaningful to that
individual” Experienced OT
Any questions?
Contact details:
Dr Anne Roberts
[email protected]
References
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Leufstadius C, Erlandsson LK,Bjorkman T, Eklund M (2008). Meaningfulness in daily occupations
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