Lilian Magalhães

Illustrating the Importance of Critical Epistemology to Realize the Promise of Occupational Justice

This article argues that it is vital to embrace critical reflexivity to interrogate the epistemological beliefs and principles guiding occupation-based scholarship to move away from frameworks that are incongruent with calls for occupational justice. For this purpose, we describe an epistemic tension between the stated intentions to demonstrate that occupation-based work can be a means to create a more just society and the epistemological beliefs that have historically dominated occupation-based scholarship. To exemplify the potential implications of this tension, a critical analysis of Creswell’s social justice/transformative design is presented, illustrating that work that expresses a commitment to social justice while relying on positivist/postpositivist assumptions often risks perpetuating injustices through neglecting their sociopolitical construction. Drawing upon critical social theory, we highlight how engagement with critical epistemological assumptions can facilitate addressing the sociopolitical “roots” of occupational injustices and highlight directions for social transformation

Social occupational therapy: conversations about a Brazilian experience.

Background. Researchers and practitioners worldwide have advocated for the development of critical perspectives in occupational therapy to examine the structural influences of social exclusion and injustice experienced by individuals, groups, and communities. To take action against social exclusion and injustice, Brazilian occupational therapists have been developing “social occupational therapy,” referring to practice that is focused on social issues and funded outside the health system. Purpose. This paper presents a Brazilian perspective on the concept and practice of social occupational therapy. Illustrations are drawn from 12 studies, developed between 2008 and 2013, which were completed with socially vulnerable youth through an ongoing university-community engagement partnership in São Carlos, São Paulo State, Brazil. Key issues. The authors discuss possibilities and challenges for developing a socially committed, transformative occupational therapy outside the health system. Implications. Occupational therapists may wish to seize opportunities to address social issues and attract funding beyond health services.

Reclaiming the Potential of Transformative Scholarship to Enable Social Justice

Scholars within critical qualitative inquiry and health sciences are becoming increasingly interested in transformative scholarship as a means to pursue greater justice in society. However, transformative scholarship has been taken up within frameworks that given a lack of consistent alignment with the critical paradigm seem to fall short in this intention. This article aims to reclaim transformative scholarship as an epistemological and methodological space that transforms and challenges the social order, situating social justice at the forefront of inquiry. The article begins by addressing the call for work toward social justice within critical qualitative inquiry. Subsequently, Creswell and Mertens’ frameworks are analyzed as examples of transformative scholarship that has distanced itself from its critical roots. Based on this analysis, we raise three problematics to illustrate the dangers of this distancing. We conclude by proposing to reframe transformative scholarship within the critical paradigm to (re)connect it to political stances and values.

Immigrant women’s occupational struggles during the socioeconomic crisis in Spain: Broadening occupational justice conceptualization

ABSTRACT Occupational scientists claim that further development of the concept of occupational justice is needed to enact the discipline’s commitment to social transformation. We argue that immigrant women’s experiences of occupations in Spain can contribute to this dialogue. Although research on occupations after migration has expanded internationally, limited studies have adopted a critical stance towards health and occupation simultaneously. Thus, we propose that advancing understanding of immigrant women’s experiences of daily participation in occupations and identifying health/well-being mediators to generate actions to promote health from a critical perspective might advance the conceptualization of occupational justice. A participatory health research study informed by Epistemologies of the South was undertaken with six women from Latin America. Data were generated through group discussion, interviews, diaries and Metaplan. A critical narrative analysis and a participatory thematic analysis were performed. Immigrant womens daily life in Spain (shared trajectories and experiences, occupational struggles, and health and well-being mediators and consequences) and an Agenda for change set by the participants (Daily challenges to overcome and possible formula to improve daily living) are reported. Findings are aligned with previous research revealing similar threats to occupational rights, impact on health and the strategies used to navigate both. New insights from the findings expand occupational justice conceptualization, portraying how structural elements such as class, gender and ethnicity shape occupational opportunities which create daily injustices negotiated through occupations, namely occupational struggles. These occupational struggles impact both negatively and positively on well-being. A specific action agenda towards occupational justice is recommended by the participants.

Extending the paradigm: Occupation in diverse contexts

Extending the paradigm: Occupation in diverse contexts Lilian Magalhães , Shoba Nayar, Eugenia Paz Pizarro c & Mandy Stanley d Department of Occupational Therapy & Post Graduate Program in Occupational Therapy, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil; Research and Development Associate, Giles Brooker Education, Chennai, India; Terapeuta Ocupacional, Académica Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Austral de Chile; Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia

‘Africana womanism’: Implications for transformative scholarship in occupational science

ABSTRACT This paper responds to the call for occupational scientists to advance understandings of occupation beyond a Western paradigm by considering the implications of drawing upon Africana womanism as a theoretical underpinning to explore gendered occupation. The uptake of Africana Womanist theory can challenge taken-for-granted assumptions tacitly embedded within occupational science surrounding gender and womanhood, while creating space for alternative ways of being, knowing, and doing in the conceptualization and study of occupation. The dual aims of this theoretical discussion paper are: to outline how Africana womanism both challenges implicit assumptions regarding gender and occupation (specifically gendered occupations) embedded in occupational science, and to critically consider how Africana womanism can advance understandings of occupation beyond a Western paradigm.

The development of occupational science outside the Anglophone sphere: Enacting global collaboration

ABSTRACT The emergence of occupational science in non-English speaking countries is frequently hampered by diverse barriers to global collaboration, knowledge dissemination, and inclusion in international dialogue. Epistemological, cultural, and institutional resources may explain these barriers, yet these have not been explored within the discipline. This paper discusses three main issues and three priorities for action put forward by participants during sessions held at two separate, international occupational science conferences. The sessions aimed to engage the audience in critical reflexivity and dialogue around the challenges present when non-English speaking countries attempt to develop occupational science scholarship and possible ways to support global collaboration. To stimulate discussion, we used a participatory methodology, ‘Metaplan’. The sessions included a statements exercise, reflections presented by the authors, individual reflexivity, and small group debate. The findings are structured as a reflexive dialogue where participants’ voices, theory, and the authors’ reflections are interwoven to enrich discussion of the issues participants identified and priorities for action. This paper contributes to decolonizing the development of occupational science and promoting an international dialogue that is open to diverse worldviews, by drawing attention to the visible and invisible barriers that limit collaboration and inclusion of the diverse ways in which occupation is understood and enacted worldwide. TAMBIÉN PUBLICADO EN ESPAÑOL https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2018.1551048

Unanticipated productivity: Reflexive analysis of postcolonial disability research shows how productivity can be understood differently

Abstract Stimulated by a disjuncture between the expectations and the experiences of conducting research on disability in Zambia, we reflexively reviewed our own research practice to find that it was premised upon an unconscious assumption about the value of productivity. This reflexive finding led us to reflect more deeply about the concept of productivity. From our own observations as health professionals and researchers in the global North complemented by literature, we described a hegemonic conception of productivity that we see to be represented. Through a more conscious articulation of our own approach to research and the responses that we observed from research participants with disabilities in Zambia, we articulated two alternative conceptions of productivity. We propose that the alternative conceptions of productivity are useful to inform more robust disability research in the global South. More generally, these alternative conceptions can be used as resistance to a narrowly conceived notion of productivity.

Schizophrenia and work: aspects related to job acquisition in a follow-up study

Objective: Work is considered one of the main forms of social organization; however, few individuals with schizophrenia find work opportunities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between schizophrenia symptoms and job acquisition. Method: Fifty-three individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia from an outpatient treatment facility were included in an 18-month follow-up study. After enrollment, they participated in a prevocational training group. At the end of training (baseline) and 18 months later, sociodemographic, clinical data and occupational history were collected. Positive and negative symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale – PANSS), depression (Calgary Depression Scale), disease severity (Clinical Global Impression – CGI), functionality (Global Assessment of Functioning – GAF), personal and social performance (Personal and Social Performance – PSP) and cognitive functions (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia – MATRICS battery) were applied at baseline and at the end of the study. Results: Those with some previous work experience (n=19) presented lower scores on the PANSS, Calgary, GAF, CGI and PSP scales (p < 0.05) than those who did not work. Among those who worked, there was a slight worsening in positive symptoms (positive PANSS). Conclusions: Individuals with less severe symptoms were more able to find employment. Positive symptom changes do not seem to affect participation at work; however, this calls for discussion about the importance of employment support.

Hypertension Experiences of Black Men: A Critical Narrative Study

Abstract Although Black individuals are disproportionately affected by hypertension as evidenced by higher prevalence and lower control rates, few studies have investigated this disparity from the lens of those most affected by this condition. This chapter explores how Black men make sense of their hypertension and how they negotiate this condition within their everyday lives, illuminating how racism and power dynamics embedded within their environments affect their experiences living with hypertension. Critical Race Theory tenets were utilized alongside a narrative design to elicit stories of hypertension experiences of four Black men living in Ontario, Canada. Eight semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted, transcribed, and thematically analyzed to illuminate how participants create meaning in regard to their hypertension. Participants’ experiences with discrimination, isolation, and migration raise awareness of how power relations embedded within social, political, and historical contexts can affect hypertension experiences. The findings of this study are bounded by its narrative context, and the characteristics of the individuals who shared their experiences. This study highlights the importance of how discussions concerning hypertensive minority men should be broadened to include the voices of such men, as well as the structures that discriminate against and oppress minority individuals.