Occupational Therapy

1. We can define an occupation as an action or an activity that a person participates in, but within the view that the person experiences it (Pierce, 2003 & Pierce, 201). Occupation is not just executing the action. We can study occupations as a whole, in the sense of patterns. For example, completing homework is an occupation that students typically take part in. However, to actually define the occupation, the person participating in the action must express how the activity pertains to him and his meaning for doing it. Occupations are individualistic and shape people's way of living and are meaningful to them. People have different ways of experiencing occupations as Pierce mentioned in his session with a boy. Pierce believed that the action

Occupations are applied in terms of Occupational Therapy to offer holistic healing and health to clients. Occupational therapy not only focuses on the physical aspects of regaining indecency over occupation but also on the mental and emotional aspects of the need to engage in occupation. In the article by Ann Wilock she discusses how Occupational Therapy focuses on specific occupations and how people do them why they do them and how it gives them meaning and purpose. Wilcock focuses on the doing and being of human life. She discusses how we as humans need things to do to feel and be healthy and how we also need a sense of being (living) (Wilcock, 1999). Occupational therapists apply occupations knowing that they are important to foster a sense of purpose and that they are a pre-requisite to health and wellness. In our occupation by design text we see that occupations must be designed by Occupational Therapist for appeal, intactness, and accuracy (Pierce, 2003). This way we can be sure the application of Occupation results in pleasure and usefulness within the means of the patients’ typical environment. Overall, occupations are applied by occupational therapist in their practices to provide an overall

The science of occupation is the studying of occupations to better understand them and what they mean to people. Zemke & Clark defined it specifically as “an academic discipline, the purpose of which is to generate knowledge about the form, function, and meaning of human occupation (Zemke & Clark, 1996 p. vii).” It is the basic science for Occupational Therapy as sociology is for social work and physics is for engineering (Pierce, 2003). Occupational science sees the importance of occupation in terms of health, being, and purpose. It seeks to find ways to use occupation not only for healing but also for social interaction and community building in general. It is also the means for which Occupational Therapy can be seen as a more evidenced-based practice through the research of occupational scientist. Without this field it would be difficult to develop ways to apply occupational within the field of occupational therapy and also to develop new ways and rework old ways of using occupation for health and