;) What Is Occupation
Introduction
Within the confines of this newsletter, it is
possible to only discuss some of occupation's most salient points.
Hopefully, however, this will not discourage readers to seek
further understanding. While
some readers may question the need to even discuss occupation, I believe
that defining and understanding occupation should be important to all of
us because:
(1)
Occupation should be our �preferred� language
(2)
As a therapy profession, we "own" occupation
(3)
As occupation's legitimate owners, we should be experts
Definitions
I have learned that defining occupation can
be simple and easy or complex and difficult.
Webster's College Dictionary defines occupation simply as:
"Any activity in which a
person is engaged" p. 936
While this definition is indeed simple, it
greatly undervalues the deeper and more complex meanings of occupation.
There are many definitions of occupation striving to capture these
deeper meaning. For example,
Kielhofner�s Model of Human Occupation defines occupation as:
�doing culturally
meaningful work, play or daily living tasks in the stream of time and
in the context of one�s physical and social world�. pp.
3
Common threads running through other
definitions of occupation include themes such as:
-
Occupation is the fabric of our lives
-
Occupation is a measure of our health
-
Occupation is a basic tenet of our
happiness and quality of life
Many definitions of occupation say similar
things but do so in a unique and different language.
Perhaps, the key to understanding occupation�s deeper meaning is
to find the language which speaks to you.
What
it isn't
Being able to adequately and correctly define
occupation includes not only knowing what it is, but also knowing what it
isn�t. Often, occupation is
used synonymously with activity, task, activities of daily living (ADL)
and function. However, occupation is not the same as these often-confused terms
because
they do not encompass occupation�s deeper meanings.
For example, one component of Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
considers how a person dresses.
However, dressing from an ADL perspective, typically does not
addressed why or why not a person dresses or what the meaning of dressing
might hold for a person. It
is because of this lost meaning that ADL is not the same as occupation.
This concept also holds true for function.
Function is not the same as occupation and next month�s OTnews
will address why.
What
it does
Having briefly discussed what occupation is
and isn't, I would like to mention what can occur as we successful engage
in occupation. By being able
to engage in occupation, we are able to have autonomy, give our lives
meaning and fulfill desired or assigned roles. In addition, it is through
occupation that we are able to find flow. According to Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, activities producing flow allow us to grow and develop
as human beings. Thus, in the
absence of occupation, society might cease to exist, humans might discontinue growing and developing and life, as we know,
might end.
Various
models of occupation
If you are interested, there are many models
of occupation. The breadth of different theories, while challenging
to the reader, is indicative of the diversity and broadness of the topic.
I encourage readers to learn more about human occupation by reading from
the following selection:
-
Enabling Occupation: An Occupational
Therapy Perspective (Canadian Model of Occupational Performance)
-
Occupational Competence Across the
Life-Span
-
Person-Environment Occupational
Performance: A Conceptual Model for Practice
-
Model of Human Occupation
-
Lifestyle Performance: A Model For
Engaging the Power of Occupation
These
models are located in several sources and a basic search should easily
locate any number of sources.
In
Closing
I hope this newsletter provides usable
information on occupation�s basic tenets. As
stated in the beginning, it is impossible to cover anything other than the
basics but I hope that I have provided impetus for readers to learn more
about our profession's namesake.
Next month's newsletter
tackles the issue of occupation and function and why OT's may not want to
consider themselves experts in function.
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M.
(1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life.
New York: Basic Books.
Kielhofner, G. (1995). A
Model of Human Occupation: Theory and Application, (2nd
ed). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Random House Living
Dictionary (1995). New York: Random House.
Occupationally Yours,
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