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Occupational Therapy and Arts Therapies

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/25

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    Occupational alienation and the mental health of university students
    (FapUNIFESP (SciELO), 2022-06-08) Nañagas, Maria Lucia; Kantartzis, Sarah
    Abstract Mental health, especially in the youth, has been a prevailing concern in recent years. University students are a particularly high-risk population for mental health problems. Changing perspectives in the field of mental health present the opportunity to explore this concept through an occupational justice lens – specifically that of occupational alienation. Through a brief review of relevant literature, this critical essay will explore the relationship among the concepts of alienation from both a sociology and occupational science perspective, and consider the insights that may be obtained through application of this concept to understanding the mental health of university students. The use of an occupational justice lens provides an opportunity for an alternative perspective when considering factors potentially contributing to the mental health problems in this population.
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    “Making change by shared doing”: An examination of occupation in processes of social transformation in five case studies
    (Taylor & Francis, 2022-03-09) Schiller, Sandra; van Bruggen, Hanneke; Kantartzis, Sarah; Laliberte Rudman, Debbie; Lavalley, Ryan; Pollard, Nick
    Background: As social and health inequalities deepen around the world, scholarship in occupational therapy and occupational science has increasingly emphasised the role of occupation as a powerful tool in transformative processes. Objective: To explore how opportunities for everyday doing together may contribute to processes of social transformation by identifying ways occupation is being taken up in socially-transformative practice. Material and Methods: A generic descriptive qualitative case study design was utilized in order to describe current practice examples and identify ways occupation was being taken up in five initiatives working towards social transformation located in Canada, Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Results: Focusing on the positioning of occupation within the initiatives, three themes were developed: The intentionality of the process, the nature of occupation within the initiatives, and the role of occupation within the processes of social transformation. Conclusions and Significance: Providing examples of agency on the micro level and of engagement with socioeconomic, political and cultural power structures at the societal level, this analysis raises important considerations in addressing how occupational therapy practice can move in socially responsive and transformative directions.