Moving beyond the individual: Occupational therapists' multi-layered work with communities

Abstract

Introduction: Although working with communities using community-centred approaches like community development has been identified as an important occupational therapy domain of practice, occupational therapists continue to struggle to clarify their roles and processes in this area of practice. From a study that aimed to describe the practice process of occupational therapists working in community development, this article presents key findings regarding how occupational therapists described their work with individuals and communities, providing a conceptualization of how to situate their work with individuals within a broad community context. Method: Using interpretive description, individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted via telephone with 12 occupational therapists from across Canada between February 2014 and March 2015. Results: There was some uncertainty amongst participants regarding the definition of community development. Four layers of community-centred practice were inductively derived from the data: individual, group, community of interest, and systems. The latter two touch on community development. Conclusion: The conceptualization that emerged from this study can assist occupational therapists in reflecting on current practice and furthering an appreciation of how their work with individuals can include a community focus, responding to calls within the profession to look beyond the individual.

An occupational therapy community development practice process

“…This inability to identify a theoretical framework was not unlike the experience of occupational therapists working in other areas of practice (Leclair et al, 2013). Until recently, occupational therapy models did not theorize the link between individual and community occupations (Lauckner, Leclair, & Yamamoto, 2019;Leclair, 2010), resulting in limited theoretical foundations to guide an occupational understanding of communities. Recent conceptual models of CD that reflect an occupational perspective are based on a few case studies (see Hyett et al, 2018;Lauckner et al, 2011) and, although advancing this area, warrant further research and verification across diverse CD practice settings.…”

Mettre l’occupation au cœur de nos actions

“…Néanmoins, des écrits érudits et scientifiques émergent pour soutenir les ergothérapeutes dans une pratique plus sociale et politique (Aldrich et Laliberté-Rudman, 2020; Dhillon et al 2010; 2015; Farias et Laliberte-Rudman, 2019 ; Heatwole Shank et al 2020; Lencucha et Shikako-Thomas, 2019 ; Malfatina et al 2019; Pollard et al 2009). De même, d’autres écrits offrent des repères afin d’élaborer des programmes d’intervention en matière de développement communautaire, afin d’outiller ces collectivités à répondre à des besoins occupationnels et afin d’accroître les possibilités occupationnelles auxquelles elles ont accès (Hyett et al, 2019 ; Lauckner, Krupa et al, 2011 ; Lauckner, Leclair et al 2019 ; Leclair et al 2020).…”

“…Nevertheless, the scholarly and scientific literature is increasingly available to support a more social and political practice (Aldrich & Laliberte Rudman, 2020; Dhillon et al, 2010, 2015; Farias & Laliberte Rudman, 2019; Heatwole Shank et al, 2020; Lencucha & Shikako-Thomas, 2019; Malfatina et al, 2019; Pollard et al, 2009). Also, there are studies that have provided benchmarks regarding the design of interventions rooted in community development, which can support communities in meeting occupational needs and in improving access to occupational possibilities (Hyett et al, 2019; Lauckner et al, 2011; Lauckner et al, 2019; Leclair et al, 2020).…”

Why occupational therapists should join the fight against climate change

“…We tend to put less emphasis on the collective, except perhaps to find trends in the data, such as what constitutes a good rehabilitation programme for a particular group of patients. Although examples exist of therapists enabling occupation at a community level (for example, the cycling group for Muslim women and life skills programme for refugees described by Whiteford et al, 2018), community-centred practice is regarded as challenging due to its poor definition and therapists' perceived lack of knowledge and skills (Lauckner et al, 2018). However, we can't ignore the fact that occupational disruption and occupational injustice (where certain groups such as ethnic minorities, children living in poverty and many older adults are unable to fulfil their occupational potential due to social, political, cultural and environmental circumstances (Durocher, 2016)) affect people collectively.…”