I think I've written on this before, if so bear with me.
I graduated from OT school in 1997. During my education, I never
remember hearing the word "occupation". Everything I learned about
occupation initially came from the book, "Enabling Occupation: An
Occupational Therapy Perspective". This book changed my practice. A few
years later, I began teaching at a University where I developed, wrote
and taught courses on human occupation. There is at least one of my
students on this list and she can testify that the human occupation
course was about human occupation theory. Basically, the course was
about how and why humans engage in occupation/life. I am certainly a
long way from being an expert, but I know more than the average bear
about human occupation.
The reason I type all the above is because when AOTA came out with their
Practice Framework, OT's INSTANTLY were pronounced "experts" in human
occupation. I have disagreed with that assertion since day one.
Messages that I read in OT-related publications and websites reinforce
the notion that most OT's are only minimally versed in occupation. I
constantly read about "activities" being referred to as occupation. Or
about engaging patients in occupation when in reality they are the same
old patterns of treatment. In essence, old practice patterns are now
being called by a new name. Here's an example that I JUST found.
"Occupations All Around You"
"Would you rather stand and reach for plastic cones, or stand an reach
up to hand up decoration for a wedding to increase your balance and ROM"
It's great that this OT at an ALF facility is using things besides
cones, but having someone engage in an "occupation" to increase their
ROM is NOT occupation. For as long as I've been practicing, OT's have
used such activity (i.e. the recent "silverware" messages" to engage
patients in balance activity. Basically, the author is taking the same
old stuff and couching it in a new term, "occupation".
I really struggle to see how OT can be "experts" in occupation when
they've never been deeply educated on the subject. Here's a definition
of expert: "An expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source
of knowledge, technique, or skill whose judgement is accorded authority
and status by the public or their peers."
Expertise is not something that's easily given. It's something that you
"earn", isn't it? To me this is just one more example of where OT say's
one thing but then does something totally different.
Just for reference, I've copied the table of contents for my lecture
guide on human occupation. The formatting is messed up, but it give some
idea of the topics. There is a lot more that could be added to syllabus.
====================================================================
Practicing Occupation-Based Practice
Barriers
AOTA Position Papers
Occupation:
Occupational Performance:
Independence:
Understanding Occupation and Occupational therapy –
Order and Disorder in Medicine and Occupational Therapy
Meaning and Occupation;
Searching for and finding meaning in our lives
Carl Rogers; (developing a therapeutic relationship)
Occupational Competence Across The Lifespan
How Do We Discover Meaning In Life: Flow
What is life?
How Do We Create A Life Worth Living: By Understanding What
Creates And Impacts Flow Experiences:
The Model of Human Occupation
The Human System
Organization of Human Systems
Enabling Occupation
Seven Stages Of The Occupational Performance Process Model:
A Step-By-Step Approach To Occupational Therapy Treatment.
Person-Environment Occupational Performance Model
Foundations
The person – understanding motivation and self- perceptions
Applying the model - general concepts
=====================================================================
Ron
--
"... as a profession that offers unique services that are ideally suited
to meet the health, participation, and quality of life needs of people
of all ages, occupational therapy is well-positioned to succeed and
flourish in the 21st century." [Fred Somers, AJOT, April, 2005, p. 127]
"The part of convalescence that I found most profoundly humiliating and
depressing was [OT]... I was reduced to playing with brightly colored
plastic letters ... like a three-year-old..." [AJOT, April, 2005, p.
231]
--
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