Exploring Occupational Justice in Occupational Therapy Education: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Occupational justice is a developing concept within the occupational therapy practice since the late 1990s. Recently, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists have released position statements on upholding human rights and occupational justice in practice. There have also been calls for occupational therapy education to respond to the changing landscape of occupational justice in practice. Despite existing literature regarding the presence of occupational justice concepts in education, there is still no current published study consolidating the scope of this area of study. Following a scoping review design, this study aims to answer the question of “how is occupational justice taught in occupational therapy education?” The study included four articles, from which seven main themes were found regarding what occupational justice concepts are taught, what teaching/learning and evaluation methods are used, and what outcomes are related to occupational justice education. From these results, the review was able to provide an overview of what is currently being done in occupational therapy education to incorporate occupational justice concepts. The review has also brought about potential areas for further study and investigation.