Occupational adaptation of occupational therapists in a global crisis: Lessons learned from a Q-methodology study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The COVID-19 pandemic demanded that people adapt to meet occupational and environmental challenges. Occupational therapists facing occupational disruption had to adapt to maintain engagement in personal and professional roles. These adaptations highlight occupational science concepts, thus contributing to the epistemology of humans as occupational beings. Aim: A Q-methodology study explored the adaptive responses of South African occupational therapists during early COVID-19 lockdown regulations. Materials and methods: Seventy-eight occupational therapists participated in the study. Data were collected using Q-sorts, where participants ranked 53 statements relating to occupational adaptations. Factor analysis was performed using a Q-methodology platform. Results: Participants’ views loaded onto three viewpoints, namely, occupational adaptation, occupational disengagement, and occupational exhaustion. Sixteen participants did not load onto any of the three themes. Most participants felt they could make a difference whilst others missed interacting with service users. A third group experienced feeling burnt out and numb. The Q-factor analysis explained 30% of the variance representing occupational therapists’ views on occupational adaptation during the pandemic and their ability to engage in occupations. Significance: How occupational therapists applied occupational adaptation to face the challenges during and after the pandemic created tangible lessons for future pandemics or crises such as applying occupational therapy intervention principles to themselves and developing preventative and promotive programmes to influence policy on future pandemic responses. The findings expand the interpretation of occupational science concepts, with contributions to occupational adaptation, occupational disengagement, and liminality. The novel term that emerged from this research, occupational exhaustion, should be further researched.