Meaningful Occupation?

“People who are engaged in occupation tend to be exhibit a general rhythm to their daily routine, a balance to work, rest, play and sleep activities and display more organised thoughts and actions” (Rebeiro,1998, p.15).

Since we have learnt what occupation is, we can now understand the true meaning of meaningful occupation. As this is the fundamental component in occupational therapy.

Meaningful occupation is the primary tool in which we, as occupational therapists, help people to establish purposeful goal orientated living. 

So what is this powerful tool?!

How we differ from the sister health disciplines is that our primary tool is meaningful occupation. Regardless of the condition, disorder or dysfunction someone experiences we use the everyday activities in peoples lives to help them to overcome challenges. We are one of the most poorly understood professions. People do understand meaningful occupation. What is the point of it? A talk therapist uses talk, a physical therapist uses exercises, meaningful occupation is not something you can point to. 

From an article that I found whilst researching this topic it's clear that what makes it meaningful is that it isn't defined by us as the therapist. We are not the expert, we are simply the guides. What's meaningful is defined by our clients and people we serve. I think that is the beauty and healing power of meaningful occupation. And reminds us how valuable it is to find out what is important to our clients. 

People have said to me - "Well, that's a stretch teaching people to go to the bathroom, how to dress themselves, what's the meaning in that? 
If at any stage of your life, even temporarily, you have ever experienced a loss in one of those fundamental areas, you know how meaningful it is to be able to do that task. Especially something that you have done since you were 2 or 3 years old. 

Meaningful occupation is a very powerful tool and can be used on any life stage/span to overcome anything, every day, individuals perform meaningful occupations that provide them with both a sense of autonomy and purpose throughout their everyday lives. Mee and Sumsion (2001) states that meaningful occupation can “improve the quality of an individual’s life through doing, not just through thinking” (p.122). Doing as such is an important aspect of being human. With meaning, occupation has the impact of enhancing an individual’s quality of life. 

As occupational therapists and occupational therapy students, we need to understand that everyone will have different reasons as to why their occupations are meaningful to them. 

For example; travel is meaningful to me because it provides me with enjoyment, social interaction and a challenge, however to another person, they may believe travel is meaningful to them because it enables them to get to a destination, a way of releasing stress  or an opportunity for movement. 

So what are the benefits? There are many benefits people endure through the use of participating in occupations that are meaningful and purposeful to them. Some examples include an increased perceived self efficacy of one’s self such as the sense of mastery and self worth, quality of life and satisfaction, competence in our ability to perform and complete the activity, social interaction, sense of belonging and a way of relating to others.

Participation in meaningful occupation “provides opportunities to discover new information, to use capacity, and to create promoting a sense of mastery and self worth” (Goldberg, Brintell and Goldberg, 2008, p.18).

ACTIVITY: Have a think and discuss with a friend: What occupations would you miss if you were told you were never able to do them again? Why would you miss them? What impacts do these occupations have on your life?

References:

Goldberg, B., Brintnell, S., & Goldberg, J. (2008). The relationship between engagement in meaningful activities and quality of life in persons disabled by mental illness. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 18(2), 17-44.

Mee, J., & Sumsion, T. (2001). Mental health clients confirm the motivating power of occupation. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(3), 121-128. 

Rebeiro, K. L. (1998). Occupation as means to mental health: A review of the literature, and a call for research. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(1), 12-18.

Townsend, A. & Wilcock, A.A. (2004). Occupational justice and client-centred practice: A dialogue. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy 71, 2, 75-87