Exploring the use of occupation based practice as a core component of Occupational Therapy.

Abstract

Literature suggests that occupation should be a core component of occupational therapy practice and that occupation based practice is a hallmark of excellence for occupational therapy provision. It is well recognised that since the emergence of the profession there have been a number of paradigm shifts for occupational therapy practice and a wide variation in the nature and purpose of intervention delivered. The growth of the body of knowledge and research evidence in occupational science and the recognition of the importance of occupation for health and wellbeing has raised the profile for the role of occupational therapy. In recent years this has increased the motivation and aspiration for the profession to return to an occupational paradigm and ensure that occupation therapy focuses on its unique contribution to health and wellbeing. Whilst there appears to be a consensus agreement across the profession that occupation based practice is beneficial and a desire to re-establish an occupational paradigm it is unclear if this is yet to be achieved. This literature review therefore provides an in depth exploration of the current literature in this topic area and discusses key findings in relation to the level of understanding of occupation, the factors which influences its use in practice and the subsequent challenges of quantifying the benefits of occupation based practice. As a result of the findings from the literature review, this paper also proposes a further area of study to gain an in depth understanding of occupation based practice in a clinical setting as a foundation for future evaluation of the benefits of occupational therapy intervention.