Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (AOTA)

Health promotion is an important part of the five practice areas (Baum, 2006). Health and wellness have been identified as one of the outcomes of occupational therapy intervention in the AOTA (2008b) “Occupational Therapy Practice Framework”.
Cognitive functioning, psychological health, and positive social networks are maintained by participating in occupations (Hocking,2013). Engaging in meaningful occupations promote the health and well-being of individuals. Simple assumptions regarding occupation and health stated by occupational therapists are rarely challenged and are held to be true. These assumptions underpin our theories of human occupation. Hammell (2009) urges us to investigate the core assumptions that advise current occupational
A patient is seen as a body that is sick and can be handled, explored and treated independently from their mind and other external considerations. The treatment is generally from medical professionals with appropriate knowledge, (Giddens, 2009). The World Health Organization’s (1946) definition of “health” is: " a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". 'Illness' is how a patient suffers when they encounter a breakdown in the way they are feeling or thinking, and 'disease' is an abnormality with the body and its component parts and is diagnosed and treated by doctors (Pool and Geissler, 2005). Although there are advantages to the biomedical model, criticisms are that overall health is linked far more to environmental and social changes, rather than medical influences (Colgrove,
It does not view “disability” as a problem that belongs to the individual involved. It looks at wider factors that can result in ill health. All of these factors can shape our physical and mental health, not just science. Health is seen differently between individuals as well as depending upon culture and the society we are living within. Shakespeare and Watson (2001) highlight that what one person regards as being ill may not be what other people with the same or similar condition regard as ill. The theorists suggest that this model draws on the idea that it is society that disables people, through designing everything to meet the needs of the majority of people who are not disabled. There is a recognition within the social model that there is a great deal that society can do to reduce, and ultimately remove, some of these disabling barriers, and that this task is the responsibility of society, rather than the disabled person.
Engel introduced the Biopsychosocial Model in 1977. “The model accounted for biological, psychological, and sociological interconnected spectrums, each as systems of the body”, (Lakhan, 2006). Lakhan also argues that this model accompanied a shift in focus from disease to health, recognizing that psychosocial factors such as beliefs, relationships and stress impact the progression of and recuperation from illness and disease. Compared