The complexity of occupation

Like many professions, we have evolved, and while our belief that ‘the ability to engage in meaningful occupations is fundamental to the facilitation and maintenance of health and wellbeing’ (RCOT, 2019 p2) has not changed, our understanding of this has deepened through research and a growing evidence base.  

‘RCOT is the guardian of the body of knowledge that underpins occupational therapy practice and education in the UK and actively engages members in discussions about the professional standards for practice and the ethical and professional conduct expectations’ (RCOT, 2019 p2).

Occupation is at the core of professional practice for Occupational Therapists and marks our unique contribution within health and social care. We know that in the complex, interdependent systems occupational therapists work in and recognising the breadth of roles across the profession, understanding, articulating and applying occupation focussed practice can be challenging.  

This lecture series recognises our responsibility to support your understanding of these developments and associated language. Through attending the lectures, we want you to have continued confidence in your understanding of contemporary occupational therapy theory, in particular occupational science. We want you to improve your confidence and knowledge on the complexity of occupation by attending the discussion cafes, providing a space for discussion, networking, clarification of understanding and utilisation of learning in practice.  

The Career Development Framework provides occupational therapists with an opportunity to reinforce their occupational-centred identity as part of their professional identity at all career levels and across all four pillars of practice.  

Through each stage of the career journey from support worker, learner, novice to advanced levels of practice, we recognise that occupational therapists have an innate requirement to understand occupation-centred practice and embed this into their ways of working, influence ways of working and impact the lives of the people we serve.  

The lecture series was led by Samantha Turner, Independent Occupational Therapist and Educator, on behalf of RCOT.

I encourage all of you to take advantage of this incredible opportunity. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or new to the field, there’s something for everyone in this series. Let’s come together to elevate and proudly advance our profession.

I can’t wait to embark on this journey with you all and to see the impact we can make together.

This series is a collaborative effort involving a diverse group of experts, each bringing their unique insights and experiences.

Why did you want to be part of this lecture series?

I am passionate about supporting occupational therapists at all levels to develop depth of knowledge of occupation to enhance their understanding of how occupations can influence health and wellbeing.

What will you bring to the conversation?

My doctoral research enabled me to explore the challenges of teaching and learning the concept of occupation and how to support individuals to develop knowledge and understanding of occupation in its most complex form.

What do you want people to take away from your lecture?

I would like individuals to develop confidence in their knowledge of occupation; enabling them to differentiate an occupation from an activity in the lives of the individuals they work with.

By the close of my lecture, participants will be able to:

• re-examine the concept of occupation
• develop confidence in differentiating between occupation and activity
• build confidence in use of occupation focused language.

Why did you want to be part of this lecture series?

This series is a great way to support occupational therapists to re-engage with the profession's philosophy, theory and research, and implement them in practice for the benefit of the people we work with and the profession.

What will you bring to the conversation?

I have been thinking and talking about occupation, based on my understanding of the literature and my own research, for nearly 30 years.

What do you want people to take away from your lecture?

I want people to end the lecture feeling energised and excited about being an occupational therapist and with some new knowledge and confidence with occupation.

Why did you want to be part of this lecture series?

I want to encourage occupational therapists to adopt theories creatively into their practice.

What will you bring to the conversation?

As a passionate scholar and educator, I want to facilitate the discussion around the concepts of doing, being, becoming and belonging. I intend to do an overview of occupational science and occupational therapy research, followed by strategies to apply these concepts to research, education, and practice.

What do you want people to take away from your lecture?

Attendants will be invited to reflect upon using concepts and thinking in strategies to enhance the occupation-centred practice.

Why did you want to be part of this lecture series?

I was excited to support this opportunity to foreground occupation in our professional discussions.

What will you bring to the conversation?

I have lengthy experience as educator, researcher and therapist, with a particular interest in occupational choice and opportunity for marginalised groups.

What do you want people to take away from your lecture?

I want people to feel confident in their understanding of the concept of occupational justice, and ready to reflect on and challenge the injustices that impact on their clients’ occupational lives.

By the close of my lecture, participants will be able to:

• speak with increased confidence about occupational justice issues
• identify occupational injustices generally, and within their own workplace
• begin to challenge systemic injustices within their sphere of influence.

Why did you want to be part of this lecture series?

I’m excited to be part of this lecture series to support occupational therapists to think creatively about the potential of complex occupations and engagement in risk for promoting health and well-being.

What will you bring to the conversation?

My PhD was about the meaning and process of engagement in outdoor adventure activities, and I have a wide variety of experience in mental and physical health contexts focused on complex occupations and risk. I aim to bring a mix of theory and practical examples to the lecture to aid understanding of occupation.

What do you want people to take away from your lecture?

An increased understanding and confidence of the value of risk for mastery, challenge and engagement in meaningful occupation and the subsequent positive impact this can have on health and well-being.

At the close of my lecture participants will be able to:

• identify theory in relation risk taking and risk management, with discussion of the complexity around therapeutic risk taking
• identify the pros and cons of risk related decisions from the perspective of individuals (participants/service users), carers, therapists and researchers
• identify the benefits of taking some risks in relation to skill development, challenge and mastery
• identify issues relating to risk within physical, social and mental health practice contexts and occupational science.

Why did you want to be part of this lecture series?

This lecture series is a great opportunity for all of us to ground ourselves in key components of occupation centred practice and I was delighted that RCOT included a topic I am passionate about, the dark side of occupation. 

What will you bring to the conversation?

I have extensive experience in forensic settings, and I’ve been able to apply this concept to a first of its kind role for occupational therapy, in working with stalking perpetrators. More recently, I have worked in primary care and the dark side of occupation has helped me in working with highly complex cases. It is a key component of the curriculum in my lecturing role, and I aim to bring this concept to a wider audience to critically explore.  

What do you want people to take away from your lecture?

I will demonstrate that the dark side of occupation is a core component of our practice and how it can make us all more occupation focussed, holistic practitioners moving forward. 

By the close of my lecture, participants will be able to:

• develop knowledge on the concept of the dark side of occupation
• increase thier confidence in our understanding of the diverse range of human occupation
• reflect on their own positionality as professionals when exploring occupation.