Jane A. Davis

Occupational Development: Towards an Understanding of Children's Doing

Abstract Although child development has been examined by various disciplines for over a century, very little is known specifically about how childrens occupations develop over time. In order to begin to address this significant gap in the literature, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted to examine childrens doings. Twelve in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with members of six families: eight girls aged 6 to 12, and six parents. Two themes emerged from the data: reasons for engagement in or why children do the things they do (opportunities, resources, motivations, parental views and values), and the process by which childrens occupations come to be established (innate drive, exposure, initiation, continuation, transformation, cessation, and outcomes). The Process for Establishing Childrens Occupations (PECO), comprised of specific influences and process stages, is offered as a preliminary model for understanding the process of and influences on occupational development.

Enhancing Research Use through Online Action Research

Background. Many health professionals, including occupational therapists, have difficulty utilizing research findings in daily practice. Purpose. To determine if an online action research project could enhance research use among occupational therapists working in similar practice areas. Methods. Four groups of 12–14 occupational therapists met online for approximately one year. They discussed barriers and facilitators to research utilization, defined practice questions, and attempted to search for, synthesize and apply relevant research findings. Online communications and post-group interviews were thematically analyzed. Results. Only half of the participants who began the project were still online with the research project at completion. These participants believed that their involvement in the group led to increased personal awareness, motivation and confidence regarding the use of research evidence in practice and knowledge to be used in practice. Time to review, critique and synthesize research evidence continued to be a major barrier to enhanced research utilization. Practice Implications. Online meetings designed to enhance research use among occupational therapists appear to hold some promise, but refinements are needed to ensure their ultimate success.

Advancing occupation-based practice: Interpreting the rhetoric:

The mission of this journal is “to provide a forum for leading edge scholarship that advances occupational therapy practice, education, and policy.” While all three are equally meritorious, in this editorial we will focus on advancing practice. We do so because we believe that without advancing our practice the advancement of our education and policy become moot. Further, as editors, we are struck by the paucity of submissions related to practice and would like to encourage occupational therapy scholars to consider work in this area, in particular, in the rhetoric of the 2007 Enabling Occupation II guidelines, to consider work in advancing occupation-based practice (Townsend & Polatajko, 2007). The rhetoric in Enabling Occupation II suggests that occupation-based practice has great potential to broaden the scope of our practice, and we would like to encourage the scholarship necessary to realize that potential. Unfortunately, a divide appears to be emerging between the rhetoric and practice; the perception seems to be that occupation-based enablement restricts practice and that there are many forms of practice that are not consistent with the ideas subtending occupation-based enablement. We believe this divide emanates from a misinterpretation of the rhetoric. The rhetoric offered in Enabling Occupation II is that occupation-based enablement involves “the full range

Toward the reconceptualization of the relationship between occupation and health and well-being.

Background. Foundational to the occupational therapy profession is the belief that engagement in occupation is health promoting; however, this belief fails to account for occupational engagement that may be risky or illness producing. Consensus regarding the nature of the relationship between occupation and health has yet to be achieved. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive description of how the relationship between occupation and health and well-being is discussed within the occupational therapy and occupational science literature. Method. The methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley served as the basis for this scoping review of the occupational therapy and occupational science literature. Findings. One hundred and twelve articles were identified as meeting the criteria for inclusion. The dominant discourse portrays the relationship between occupation and health as positive. Implications. The broader literature suggests that occupational engagement can have both positive and negative effects on health and well-being. As such, the reconceptualization of the relationship between occupation and health and well-being is warranted to enable occupational therapists to practise in a more client-centred manner.

Children's Occupations in Context: The Influence of History

Abstract Typically, the concepts occupation and children are not put together; however, children are always busy doing, in other words, occupationally engaged. While it is generally accepted that adult occupations are the result of the interaction between person and environment, it is held that childrens developmental levels, in interaction with their immediate environments, determine their occupations. The impact of broad contextual factors, including social views, trends and situations, on childrens occupations are rarely discussed. On the assumption that the historical context affords a natural vehicle for examining the role of the broad environment, an historical analysis of literary works between 1650 and 1990 was carried out. This paper demonstrates that the social views, trends and situations that shaped different periods history have indeed had an impact on childrens occupations, in particular on determining the predominant occupations of children.

Our reach matters Expanding occupational therapy knowledge sharing and creation using the Internet

Communicating this new knowledge through dissemination avenues is vital for its uptake in practice, for informing future research, and to support applications for research funding. Since 1933, when the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy (CJOT) was first published, over 20 peer-reviewed, discipline-specific occupational therapy journals have been created, broadening our dissemination potential. Social media and networking opportunities can provide us with the capability for sharing and creating occupational therapy knowledge that can be taken up and used by occupational therapy practitioners and used to increase awareness of the importance of occupational engagement and effective occupational enablement within health care, education, social services professions, and consumer groups.

Living in a Blended World: The Occupational Lives of Children of Immigrants to Canada

The many contexts in which children grow and learn shape their occupational development. While developing their occupational repertoires, children of immigrant parents grow up within a dual-cultured context—a context comprised of both their familys heritage culture and the culture of their new receiving country. Limited research has examined how cultural contexts shape the occupational repertoire of children of immigrant parents. This study explored how the occupational repertoires of these children develop while growing up in Canada. A constructivist grounded theory approach was employed following the constant comparative method. Five families living in Canada, eight children and six parents, were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Three main themes emerged: Communities as connection to old and new occupations; Family as core niche for integration of old and new occupations; and Occupation as a pathway to possibilities. Together these themes provide an initial model for understanding a process of occupational repertoire development of children within a blended society. The findings offer a preliminary understanding of the structures and processes that shape the development of occupational repertoires of children of immigrants as they negotiate the multiple occupational cultures of their family and the society in which they live.

The influence of context: a naturalistic study of Ugandan children's doings in outdoor spaces.

The purpose of this study was to explore childrens everyday outdoor occupations in context. A naturalistic observational approach was employed to record the observed outdoor occupations of children in Mbarara, Uganda. Thematic analysis, through pattern formation and constant comparative analysis, was used to uncover categories and themes in the data. Patterns emerged from the data revealing two overarching categories containing three themes: 1) types of occupations: play, work and nothing in particular and 2) characteristics of occupational engagement: being in peer groups, having fun and using materials in the environment. The themes reveal that childrens occupations are both similar and different across minority and majority world cultures and that childrens occupations are contextually situated and flexible in nature. A limitation of the study was that the observational approach made identification of childrens ages subjective. Subsequent studies should explore childrens experiences of occupational engagement using interviews and focus groups.

Interventions for Women With Substance Abuse Issues: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVE. The aim of this scoping review was to describe the characteristics and features of substance abuse interventions for women in North America and discuss the findings from an occupational perspective. METHOD. A scoping review was conducted to examine North American peer‐reviewed literature published between 2001 and 2014. Four databases were searched using terms related to intervention, substance abuse, and women only. Descriptive statistics of categorical groupings were used to describe the data sources and characteristics and features of the interventions. RESULTS. Forty‐two articles met the inclusion criteria, with the majority citing a harm‐reduction approach and using multifaceted interventions with various targets for change. CONCLUSION. Substance abuse interventions for women are typically multifaceted and follow a harm‐reduction philosophy. Further research into the efficacy of interventions that more specifically target occupation beyond substance use is needed.

On the edge of the possible: Considering homelessness / Aux limites du possible : Envisager le rôle de l’ergothérapie face à l’itinérance

A central theme of our current practice guidelines, as expressed in the title, is to advance a vision for health, well-being, and justice through occupation (Townsend & Polatajko, 2013). Since I became the editor of CJOT, I have taken the liberty of using my editorial platform to lend my voice to the call to act on that vision, to enable our clients, and ourselves, to realize possibilities. [...]many have limited occupational repertoires and may fill their time with harmful occupations, such as substance abuse or gang involvement. [...]people who are homeless are often limited by their homelessness from engaging in meaningful occupations.