Politics of Occupation–Centred Practice: Reflections on Occupational Engagement Across Cultures

Politics of Occupation–Centred Practice: Reflections on occupational engagement across cultures addresses the cultural aspects of occupational identity and draws out the implications for practice, moving beyond the clinical environment to include the occupational therapist s work in the wider community.

It explores the development of individual occupational narratives, community traditions and their roots in everyday experiences, offering a range of examples from distinctive populations to demonstrate approaches to forming sustainable occupational engagements. Chapters span such key areas as Experiences of Disaster , Social Inclusion , Disability and Participation , and Sexuality, Disability Cultures and Occupation .

This cutting edge text, coordinated by two distinguished researchers and educators in the global field of occupational therapy and science, is designed to meet the needs of students studying the conceptual foundations of occupational therapy, occupational science, role emerging practice, occupational justice, community development and community–based rehabilitation. The book will also be of interest to academics and practitioners exploring new practice contexts created by the drive to address the diversity and inclusion agenda.

List of Contributors vii

Foreword ix

Acknowledgements xi

1 Introduction 1
Nick Pollard and Dikaios Sakellariou

2 The Language of Occupation 25
Nick Pollard and Dikaios Sakellariou

3 Occupational Literacy 42
Nick Pollard and Dikaios Sakellariou

4 A Grammar for a Language of Occupation 51
Nick Pollard and Dikaios Sakellariou

5 Towards a Transformational Grammar of Occupation 61
Nick Pollard and Dikaios Sakellariou

6 Narratives of Recognition 72
Dikaios Sakellariou and Nick Pollard

7 Narratives and Truths 81
Dikaios Sakellariou and Nick Pollard

8 Occupation in a Greek Town: Flowing, Emergent, Flexible across Time and Space 92
Sarah Kantartzis, Matthew Molineux and Sally Foster

9 Indigenous Ainu Occupational Identities and the Natural Environment in Hokkaido 106
Mami Aoyama

10 People with Disabilities and Participation: Experiences and Challenges of an Occupational Therapy Practice in the City of Sa o Paulo, Brazil 128
Sandra Maria Galheigo, Fa´tima Corre a Oliver, Taisa Gomes Ferreira and Marta Aoki

11 Communities of Writing 146
Nick Pollard

12 Disability, Sexuality and Intimacy 162
Pamela Block, Russell Shuttleworth, Jacob Pratt, Hope Block and Linda Rammler

13 Models and Human Occupation 180
Nick Pollard and Neil Carver

14 Participation, Time, Effort and Speech Disability Justice 197
Devva Kasnitz and Pamela Block

15 A Society Founded on Occupation 217
Nick Pollard and Dikaios Sakellariou

Index 237

Nick Pollard is research coordinator for occupational therapy in the Centre for Health and Social Care Research and is a senior lecturer in occupational therapy. Nick has published in peer reviewed journals and influential texts and his work has been presented at international conferences in the UK, Europe, North America and Australia.

Dikaios Sakellariou is a Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at Cardiff University. His research interests include occupational justice, injustice and apartheid; sexuality and disability; and qualitative research methodologies and their usefulness in exploring experiences of occupation.

What makes this book exciting is the fresh insights it offers to persistent issues within the occupational therapy.   (British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1 February 2013)

it is a rare occurrence when one particular book sparks an immediate connection and I really want to read the next bit. That was the case with this particular volume. The editors have crafted an elegant flow between and across chapters that introduces the foundational concepts of the occupational therapy profession, then leads the reader into realms that are less familiar perhaps A book full of new triggers of interest; a book that presents a fresh and unexpected dissection and synthesis of occupation as linked with languages, cultures, and narratives; a book well worth another read and one that can inform with fresh eyes when probing our practice and professional understanding. (Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 81, June 2014)