Occupational Science Research Articles

Refugees and asylum seekers in Australian print media: A critical discourse analysis

ABSTRACT The occupational possibilities available to refugees and asylum seekers upon arrival in Australia are influenced by the discourses in Australian print media that shape knowledge, attitudes, and subjectivities, including which people and what occupations are ideal and possible. This paper sought to expose and challenge discourses constructing subjectivities and shaping the occupational possibilities or occupational injustices for refugees and asylum seekers within the Australian context. A critical discourse analysis of Australian local and national newspapers was conducted. A theoretical framework constructed from the work of Foucault and Fairclough was applied, with findings informed by an occupational science perspective. Three core subjectivities were identified in the print media discourse: wretched identities, suspicious fugitives, and cultural usurpers. These constructions highlighted the way in which discourses within the Australian print media can limit occupational possibilities for refugees and asylum seekers to those occupations relevant only to survival, surveillance, or assimilation. Implications for occupational possibilities may include occupationally restrictive boundaries upon resettlement and justification for excluding refugees and asylum seekers from Australian society. The disempowering nature of these subjectivities reflects aspects of Australian discourses that should be and can be challenged.

Occupational Therapy in Norway: Influence of the Nordic Welfare State Policy and the Professional Development of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science Worldwide

Occupational Therapy in Norway: Influence of the Nordic Welfare State Policy and the Professional Development of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science Worldwide

COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy: Protecting Worker Health and the Response of the Italian Industrial Hygienists Association.

The number of people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome—coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), i.e. the virus causing coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is dramatically increasing worldwide to the size of a pandemic. At the time of writing Italy is ranking first among countries both in terms of number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and in terms of number of deaths. Such a wide spread of COVID-19 has led to concern among workers who are facing the risk of becoming infected during the execution of their duties. We believe it is useful to remark on the need for professional expertise in the field of Occupational Hygiene in this emergency context, in which the indications provided by national and international bodies, the available scientific literature and the legal provisions are constantly and rapidly evolving. It is of fundamental importance that there is an effective analysis of expert inputs, to provide essential guidance to Health, Safety and Environmental managers and other prevention managers in workplaces. In this regard, not only a constant update of the regulatory framework is needed, but also a development and circulation of operational guidance to all the stakeholders to translate general indications into clear operating procedures and implementation tools to be adopted in the workplaces. We believe that the scientific associations in the field of Occupational Hygiene play a crucial role in guiding and assisting prevention professionals. There is considerable expertise in the occupational hygiene and exposure science communities that can help employers and workers to contain and delay the spread of COVID-19. For this reason, the Italian Association of Industrial Hygienists (AIDII—Associazione Italiana degli Igienisti Industriali) published documents containing operational guidelines to provide correct and constantly updated information for: (i) workers employed in essential activities (with low and medium risk of contagion), (ii) health workers and other workers at high or very high risk of contagion, and (iii) for the correct use and handling of personal protective equipment for workers and for the population in general. It is worth pointing out that the documents produced are not intended to replace those produced by authoritative bodies, but to comply with and complete them by reporting an effective summary and further indications about the measures that should be taken in practice under the light of the Italian legislation. At present, the challenge is to produce scientifically sound knowledge, appropriate tools, and effective methodologies, by coordinating the initiatives of different scientific associations, with the final aim to effectively transfer them to employers and workers.

Readying for Reunification: North Korean Refugees' Aspiration as Citizens of South Korea

In 2019, 33,523 North Korean refugees were granted citizenship and lived in South Korea. There is growing concern that rather than guaranteeing participation, their citizenship is associated with marginalization, alienation, and isolation. Guided by an occupational science perspective and Straussian grounded theory, this study explored how they participate in society through engaging in everyday activities using 10 semi‐structured interviews that were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. It found that the South Korean governmental stance toward reunification, compounded by ethnic homogeneity, eased the participants' transition to the host society. In response, participants engaged in or pursed activities they hoped would prove useful for the reunification of Korea. Readying for reunification encapsulated a meaning participants attached to their everyday activities while pursuing citizenship of South Korea. This article concludes by recommending the urgent need for social outreach initiatives, where North Korean refugees utilize their trans‐national knowledge for the reunification.

Using theory to inform understandings of occupation in a migration context

ABSTRACT Research on global migration has grown substantially in occupational science over the past decade. While literature reviews have focused on the results and recurrent themes emerging in occupation-focused studies, the present article discusses the use of theory in occupational science articles exploring international migration. Theoretically grounding occupational science research on migration can allow the discipline to ensure the depth of the knowledge it develops, as well as the relevance of this knowledge to other disciplines and the outreach of occupational science. This theoretical paper is informed by a review of migration studies in the Journal of Occupational Science. Forty one articles focusing on international migration and presenting the results of empirical research were selected and analyzed. Six non-exclusive groups are presented. The largest group includes articles adopting approaches inspired by grounded theory; therefore, not strongly relying on pre-existing theories in the data analysis. Other groups used concepts related to occupational justice or drawn from theories developed by Bourdieu, Goffman, or Ricoeur, as well as transactionalism as developed by occupational scientists based on Dewey’s work. However, there are inconsistencies in the application of theory—some articles did not explicitly integrate any theoretical concepts or, among those using grounded theory, did not all develop a novel theory. We propose Lefebvre’s theory of “production of space”, originally published in English in 1991, as an example of a useful approach for the study of occupation in a migration context.

Developing an occupational perspective of women involved in sex work: A discussion paper

ABSTRACT Sex work is a commonplace form of work that is variably tolerated, or not, worldwide. Perceived by many to be a complex social issue, sex work is interpreted and performed differently, depending on the political, religious, cultural, and legal context; all of which shape the dominant cultural narrative of stigmatising perceptions of sex workers. The aim of this discussion paper is to outline our reflections and offer some arguments on the challenges and opportunities of addressing sex work from an occupational perspective. We focus on three issues: the push and pull factors of sex work, a critical consideration of the common assumption that health can be promoted through occupation, and the contribution that occupational science can make to sex workers.

Developing an occupational science curriculum for undergraduate students

ABSTRACT Developing an occupational science curriculum that is responsive to the specific needs of a student population manifests Dr. Elizabeth Yerxa’s (1990) vision of leveraging the ideas of occupational science to meet the complex social challenges of our time. Through a case example of the Occupational Science Minor Program at the University of Southern California (USC), we demonstrate that the translation of occupational science as a basic science can be interpreted in a meaningful way to undergraduate students in light of the current mental health needs of this population. Dr. Ruth Zemke (2016) traced the creation of the USC Occupational Science Minor Program as a way to extend occupational science education and advance the field to the next generation of researchers, clinicians, and stakeholders. In this paper, the authors expand upon Zemke’s introduction of the program and explore the guiding principles for developing an occupational science curriculum for undergraduate students. We draw from current research in occupational therapy and occupational science education as well as evidenced-based curricula design strategies from education in order to identify program strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Households and work in their economic contexts: State-level variations in gendered housework performance before, during, and after the great recession

ABSTRACT Women remain largely responsible for the management and performance of domestic labor despite many shifts in both women’s and men’s economic activities. The Great Recession changed the economic landscape in the United States in important ways, affecting men’s economic experiences substantially. Some states were affected less by the recession, thereby providing households a buffer against its harmful effects. Understanding the social and economic contexts of housework such as those influenced by the Great Recession can yield important insights for contemporary American family life and make significant contributions to occupational science as a discipline. The purpose of this project is two-fold. First, we use 2003-2015 American Time Use Study data to examine housework performance before, during, and after the Great Recession. To what extent did the changing economic conditions associated with the Recession change how women and men allocated time to housework? Second, we situate households into geographic context to determine whether and how state-level employment opportunities (e.g., unemployment rate) and policies (e.g., minimum wage) shape women’s and men’s housework performance and how these state-level characteristics provided different contexts for housework before, during, and after the Great Recession. The results indicate that men’s housework hours increased over the three time periods, while women’s housework hours decreased. Individuals living in Census divisions characterized by less traditional gender ideologies reported performing less housework. This project demonstrates the power of social norms around housework performance and documents how housework remains a gendered occupation in the United States and thus a social problem related to the inequitable distribution of unpaid labor worth examining.

Occupational adaptation as a lived experience: The case of Filipino occupational therapy academic educators

ABSTRACT Occupational adaptation is an important process to understand, as we build knowledge of humans as occupational beings. Scholars advocate for deeper understanding of this process in situated contexts such as that of the academic environment. Academic educators constantly demonstrate occupational adaptation process when meeting daily expectations and role demands and transact within the academic environment. This process, however, remains under-explored. In this study, we analyzed the experiences of 11 Filipino occupational therapy educators to examine the phenomenon of occupational adaptation. A phenomenological approach, with semi-structured interviews, was used to explore how educators perceive, fulfill, and adapt to their occupations as academics. Four themes emerged from an iterative process of extracting significant statements from the interviews and triangulation with the literature: (1) traversing academic roles and re-aligning value systems; (2) transacting with the academic environment; (3) adopting new and creative ways of doing and responding; (4) having a renewed sense of self. At the core of the experiences of Filipino occupational therapy educators is an academic community which forms the context of relationships and identity formation. The occupational adaptation of academic educators is an ongoing transformative process that occurs while engaging in roles and transacting with the academic environment, and involves thinking, doing, and responding in new or creative ways during occupational participation, which brings about a renewed sense of self and identity. Perspectives from occupational science on person-environment transactions serve as a strong theoretical framework to understand the everyday occupation of academics.

The Development and Validation of Pre-Driving Assessment: Attitude towards safe driving scale

An occupational therapist who involved with driving rehabilitation should use a proper evaluation in identifying safe driving behaviour during the pre-driving assessment. Many reports have stated that human factors contributed up to 97% of collision. This study aims to develop a psychological evaluation that measures human factors in traffic safety during the pre-driving assessment. This study was involved sequential mix methodology approach. The factor analysis was carried out to determine the validity and reliability of the evaluation (Cronbach alpha .887). This assessment found to be adequate in providing the standard means of risky driving attitude based on the cut off value established.Keywords: Occupational science; Pre-driving assessment; Functional activities; Driving rehabilitationeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.2060

The vita activa and the human condition: Points of clarification in reply to Jansson and Wagman

ABSTRACT Writing about Hannah Arendt’s valuable contribution to occupational science, Jansson and Wagman (2018) offered perceptive and constructive comments on my previous paper (Turnbull, 2018). Here I seek to clarify and further develop my own interpretive position on these topics. Agreeing that further consideration of Arendt’s philosophical roots is needed, I argue that the three fundamental activities of the vita activa be regarded as ‘existentials’ rather than ‘modalities’ of occupation. I explore themes that Jansson and Wagman noted as our points of difference: Vita activa and vita contemplativa; The existence of human nature; and Whether occupation is conditioned, and both individualistic and pluralistic. To these I add a fifth: On not being conditioned absolutely. The line of inquiry then opens towards regarding Arendt’s existentials as a way of forming evaluative judgements about the human condition. Arendt’s text leads towards two plausible but conflicting interpretations; one tends towards a psychological account, the other towards opening a space for political freedom. Another question involves asking how the terms ‘being’ and ‘doing’ are related in occupational science and in Arendt’s politically oriented thought. It is argued she ranks them equally, but this is evaluative, not ontological. Arendt’s thought on the inability of science to explain what we are or answer the question of who we are, leads her in a political direction. Two implications for occupational science are drawn: that the first task is to make information about labor, work, and action available for evaluation, which leads directly into posing questions of social and occupational justice.

Negotiating occupation: How older people make sense of the concept of “occupation”

ABSTRACT Background: The concept of occupation has been widely discussed and developed theoretically in occupational science and occupational therapy. Objectives: To explore how older community living adults themselves describe and negotiate the meaning and definition of “occupation”. Methods: Twenty-seven persons in northern Sweden (67-95 years old) participated in workshops with audio-recorded discussions. The transcribed discussions were analyzed using discourse theory. Findings: Discussions started with efforts to establish a initial definition of occupation focusing on what kinds of practices could be seen as occupations. Second, there were significant efforts to value and grade different occupations, described as evaluative definitions. Last, participants resonated around the disadvantages of stable definitions of occupations, and put forth reflexive arguments for more relativizing definitions. Conclusion: While physical occupations were tellable, social and mental occupations seemed to require a language that was less familiar. Therefore, interventions that suggest participants to engage in social or mental occupations need to provide a language that makes non-physical occupations comprehensible as occupations.

Occupation in context: A reflection on environmental influences on human doing

ABSTRACT When occupational science was introduced as a new field of scholarship, the environment was conceptualised consistent with broad assumptions of the day as a space where people function and over which they achieve mastery. Categorised as natural, and thus deserving protection, or artificial, it inevitably presented challenges to which people would respond. Consistent with understandings that the environment is a secular reality, human-environment interactions were theorised using open systems theory. Information was taken in, resources were marshalled, and adaptive responses stimulated skills development. This presentation surveys shifts in understanding of the environment since those early days, reporting movement towards a transactional perspective, acknowledgement that the sociocultural environment shapes people’s goals, and a more nuanced understanding of the ways people respond to environmental challenges. There is greater openness to the idea that the environment profoundly influences what people can access and do, and an emerging appreciation of indigenous challenges to the western perspective that people are somehow separate from the environment.

Enacted togetherness – A concept to understand occupation as socio-culturally situated

Background: This paper is in line with the on-going discussion of a theoretical re-orientation towards acknowledging the socio-cultural dimensions of occupation.Aim: To define enacted togetherness as a concept and share our understandings of how this concept can add to the understanding of occupation as socio-culturally situated.Method and material: The concept enacted togetherness emerged from empirical findings of a larger research project with older adults living with late-life depression. Informed by a transactional understanding of occupation and a narrative approach, the concept emerged as a contextually situated process holding qualities and potential as a source of meaning-making.Findings: Enacted togetherness as described herein has a clear association to occupation in terms of doing activities together. We reflect on enacted togetherness as a process of meaning-making, connecting people and places through unfolding stories; as an arena where togetherness and belonging can be created; and as a space for interpretation, providing opportunities to negotiate issues of meaning that can lead to possibilities for change.Conclusion: The concept of enacted togetherness can contribute to the ongoing discussion of a theoretical reorientation towards understanding socio-cultural dimensions of occupation.Significance: Enacted togetherness is a concept that can contribute to occupational therapy and occupational science as it adds to an understanding of the qualities and potentials inherent in engagement in occupations with others.

Doing Occupational Justice: A Central Dimension of Everyday Occupational Therapy Practice.

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) state that occupational justice is part of the domain of occupational therapy and that occupational justice is "an aspect of contexts and environments and an outcome of intervention" (AOTA, 2014, p. S9). Despite the increasing focus on justice in the occupational therapy and the occupational science literature, many practitioners in traditional settings do not see its relevance to their everyday practice (Galvin, Wilding, & Whiteford, 2011) or have difficulty envisioning how to enact a justice-informed practice. This paper demonstrates how occupational justice is germane to all settings of occupational therapy, and how it can be enacted at micro, meso, and macro levels of occupational therapy practice. We argue that occupational therapy is a justice-oriented profession at its core and will discuss how occupational justice can be enacted at all levels of practice.

Capabilities, Opportunities, Resources and Environments (CORE): Using the CORE approach for inclusive, occupation-centred practice.

Occupational participation is often claimed as a human right and determinant of health by occupational science and therapy scholars. Yet, maintaining occupation at the centre of practice is a challenge. The Capabilities, Opportunities, Resources and Environments (CORE) approach provides a mechanism for occupational therapists to address this challenge by viewing their practice through an inclusive lens, and enacting inclusive, occupation-centred occupational therapy. This paper presents applications of the CORE approach via three case narratives. The aim is to increase occupational therapists' understanding of how to apply the CORE approach and to facilitate research-to-practice knowledge translation. The CORE approach is introduced and applied through three case narratives, each highlighting one of the CORE elements within the context of the broader approach. The narratives contain critical reflective case narratives on the application of the CORE approach in the context of three different practice settings in Australia based on the authors' experiences. Practice settings include working within the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in a secure forensic mental health facility, and in rural community health. The forensic health case narrative documents findings from the authors' research which applied the CORE approach as an analytical tool, providing an additional layer of analysis of the identified themes from the original study. This paper provides occupational therapists with a practical understanding of how to apply the CORE approach through diverse case narrative examples. The practical "how to" questions that guided the development of the case narratives can be used by occupational therapists and occupational therapy students in individual or group critical reflection to support development and application of socially inclusive and occupation-centred praxis. If occupational therapists are to claim expertise in enabling occupation and social inclusion, then using the CORE approach is vital to designing and implementing inclusive, occupation-centred interventions.

Unpacking the application of Q methodology for use in occupational therapy research

Background Occupational therapy research has not fully utilized available research methods when exploring occupational therapists’ views on specific interventions and service provision nor when exploring consumer priorities and the impact of occupational therapy services. Q methodology, a quantitative method for the systematic assessment of qualitative data, is an approach that can be used to examine viewpoints related to occupational therapy. Aims/objectives To add experiential knowledge to guide researchers new to navigating Q methodology and encourage researchers to consider the application of Q methodology when exploring viewpoints pertinent to occupational therapy practice and research. Material and methods The application of Q methodology in published occupational therapy and occupational science research is identified, and an experience-based review of Q methods undertaken. Results More detailed explanation and reflection on each stage of Q methodology, including the factor analysis stage, than is currently available in the literature is presented to support successful implementation of this method. Conclusion Sharing experience in implementing Q methodology may inform and encourage researchers in its use as one method for bridging the gap between qualitative and quantitative data. Significance The rigor of the method's processes may add credibility to identified viewpoints and how they could inform occupational therapy practice. Key messages Q methodology can be used in occupational therapy research to explore consumer and therapist viewpoints regarding interventions, service provision, priorities and the profession itself. Q methodology employs a specific, repeatable process within each stage of the research process to ensure rigour. Q methodology provides an approach to combining qualitative research methods with quantitative analysis techniques to understand the viewpoints of interest.

Occupational apartheid and human rights: Narratives of Chilean same-sex couples who want to be parents

ABSTRACT Theoretical and political background: Human rights can help value human diversity as a natural condition of all societies. In some places, however, not everybody can exercise their rights. Purpose: This work aims to understand the restrictions experienced by same-sex couples who wish to engage in parenthood. Method: The study presents the situation of two same-sex couples who have experienced restrictions to becoming parents in Chile. The methodology used to present their experiences is a biographical narrative combined with a life story approach. Findings: The occupational transition towards motherhood/fatherhood for same-sex couples is restricted due to discrimination and exclusion resulting from current political and sociocultural conditions prevailing in Chile. Those who participated in the study described their experience as restricted because of gender stereotypes associated with raising children and heteronormative occupations. One aspect of the restrictions imposed on the parenthood of same-sex couples is expressed as an occupational apartheid which already impacts LGTBI persons in Chile. Discussion: These human rights violations have an impact on occupational identity and everyday life, preventing same-sex couples from engaging in meaningful life projects. Conclusion: This work is a contribution to occupational science as it describes the occupational apartheid experienced by same-sex couples trying to start a family in Chile.

Celebrating Ann Wilcock: A call to action

ABSTRACT Dr. Ann Allart Wilcock (née Ellison) made outstanding contributions to occupational science, as a new discipline, and to the century old profession of occupational therapy. In celebrating that legacy, we are calling for action with research advancing three important ‘themes’ with global relevance that we see in Wilcock’s work. First, she was a world pioneer in expanding awareness and empirical knowledge of the occupational nature of humans, that is to say knowledge of human occupation as “innate and related to health and survival” (Wilcock, 1993, p. 17). Second, Wilcock bridged the gap between human occupation, as an almost invisible aspect of daily lifestyles, and population health. Third, she emphasized humans’ need to understand and work toward the ideal of an occupationally just world.

Impressions on the current state of cognitive neuroscience in occupational measurement.

Cognitive neuroscience is currently finding itself as a marketing trend in occupational science, particularly in terms of workplace assessment and measurement. However, the field has historically had little to do with occupational applications and has generally remained focused on the clinical and academic relevance of its research. We will explore several frontiers where research methods and theory established in cognitive neuroscience are beginning to produce meaningful applications in the workplace. Given that this application is likely to be unfamiliar with many in brain research, we look to outline concepts that should be perceived as key considerations when applying innovative measures to the workplace. Relating to these key considerations are several challenges that currently stand in the way of cognitive neuroscience progressing beyond a marketing trend into a steadfast perspective in occupational science.