Giving meaning

The bioethicist and philosopher Engelhardt (1983) has stated that Occupational Therapists are meaning-givers. He believed that "it is only with a context of meaning that treatment can take place" (p, 142).

By creating the a context of meaning we are seeking to elicit and discover the meanings of the situation and we offer occupation as a way to respond to those meanings and to help create new meaning. From this reading I have found that occupation is a vehicle for creating meaning in the Occupational Therapy context of care.

The profession of occupational therapy supports the assumptions about the relationship between occupation and health as follows;

-          People are occupational beings

-          Engagement in occupation is healthy

-          People need a healthy balance of occupation

-          There are links with purpose and meaning

-          Occupation is a tool for healthy participation in life

(Creek and Lougher, 2008, p.26)

So in order to action meaning, it is in the action of "doing" that meaning is realised in our lives. So ultimately it is occupational performance that leads to unfolding layers of meanings.



Reference:
Engelhardt, T (1983). Occupational therapists as technologists and custodians of meaning. In G. Kielhofner (Ed.), Health through occupation (pp. 139-144). Philidelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.