Occupational therapy and complexity: defining and describing practice

Abstract

In 2016, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (then the College of Occupational Therapists), the professional body for occupational therapists in the United Kingdom, commissioned a review of the document Occupational therapy defined as a complex intervention developed on their behalf by Jennifer Creek and published in 2003. This document had proved useful in describing occupational therapy within education, practice and research, but with considerable changes occurring in these areas as well as in the wider context over the intervening years, a review was considered necessary. Following a call for proposals, a research team from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, was appointed to carry out this review. While initially a revision to Creek’s 2003 publication was the aim of this work, a new, contemporary view of occupational therapy emerged. This new publication describes the process and outcomes of occupational therapy, and it is hoped that it will provide useful guidance for all working within and in partnership with occupational therapy, both today and for some years to come.