EXPLORING HEALTH AS A UNDERPINNING CONCEPT IN THE DO-LIVE-WELL FRAMEWORK AND A COMPARATIVE EXPLANATION WITH THE CONCEPT OF HEALTH IN JAPAN

Abstract

Promoting people’s health is one of the important tasks for occupational therapists. The idea of occupation, health, well-being and their relationship in existing many occupational therapy theories are conceptualized and explained in the western context, although they can be varied depending on social structures or cultures. On the other hand, the importance of cultural relativities and social structure when considering occupation and health has been discussed in various literature. This research aims to examine how the concept of health is understood in the Do-Live Well framework and literature which underpins the framework. Additionally, how they might be different from the Japanese conceptualized health is analysed. The scoping review is chosen as a methodology to explore the health concept which underpins the Do-Live-Well framework. 7 themes of health concepts were identified including well-being, notion of resource for everyday life, flourishing, choices, abilities and chances to engage in meaningful occupation, a balance between enjoyment, productive and resting, importance of meaning in occupation, and a relation to an interactive focus on individual’s mind, physical and spirit. Three themes which are; health as well-being and flourishing; health as having abilities choices and chances to engage in a meaningful occupation; and importance of meaningful occupation for health, were discussed with the view of Japanese contexts. Analysing the result of scoping review with the Japanese context disclosed that the degree of collectivism or individualism influences the people’s experience of well-being. Also, it is indicated that the idea of flourishing might not always lead to improved well-being for Japanese people. Additionally, the importance of considering cultural relativities for the idea of relationship of health, wellbeing and occupation was confirmed. Finally, it was suggested that further investigation on spirituality for Japanese people might be important for health promotion in the Japanese context.