Occupation

Abstracts
P124
Occupational science for occupational therapy: to be
or not to be – is that still the question?
Hewson D, The University of Northampton
Introduction: The profession focuses on using meaningful
occupations (Hammell, 2004 p.71) to re-engage people into
daily activities following injury, disease or trauma and in more
recent years, a theory shift has enabled a study of all occupations
whether these are positive or negative. This further exploration
of occupations has been developed through occupational
science, a discipline which focuses on the importance of
occupation, and occupational engagement (Molineux, 2011
p.369). There is a keen interest from the profession to be
occupation focused (Pierce, 2003 p.1–2) and yet, Twinley and
Morrisk (2014, p.275) questions still whether occupational
therapy has enough knowledge to truly be occupation focused
even though occupational science was founded twenty five years
ago.
Knowledge and theory is well recognized as enabling therapists
to make competent decisions in clinical practice, to justify their
practice through clinical reasoning providing a sense of identity
(Kielhofner, 2009 p.10). Primary research was carried out to
investigate the use of occupational science within occupational
therapy practice.
Method: A mixed methodology research design using a selfadministered
online survey to gain the views of 47 occupational
therapists in current clinical practice during 2015 was carried
out. Ethical approval was applied for and approved by the School
of Health Ethics Committee at The University of Northampton.
No further ethical approval was required as the study did not
involve clients and therefore approval from the Integrated
Research Application System (IRAS) was not needed.
The participant demographics demonstrated that there was a
broad range in age (from 22–58 years), length qualified (from
three months to 33 years) and a variety of specialisms. All
participants worked in England, bar one who lived in Scotland,
therefore there were no international participants in this
survey. Most participants had a Batchelor Science degree in
Occupational Therapy, and some had a masters or diploma. No
participants had a PhD. Participants were employed in various
ways but predominantly in the National Health Service (NHS).
The data demonstrated that participants had received training
on occupational science 45% (n=21) had received training
compared to 55% (n=26) who had not.
Findings: Quantitative and qualitative results, analysed using
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and thematic
analysis indicated that there was a mixed understanding and
use of occupational science theory in practice, with 70%
(n=33) identifying that further training on occupational science
was needed. Correlations identified a link between whether
occupational therapists had received training, and whether the
participants used the theory or felt it was valuable for practice.
72% (n=33) identified that occupational science was a valuable
theory, yet 55% (n=26) stated they do not use it in their daily
practice. Five themes were identified: Occupational Science
Education and Knowledge, Theory and Application in Practice,
Occupation Focused Practice, Practice Limitations and lastly,
Professional Identity. The data further revealed that occupational
science is used by some therapists who were more able to relate
the theory to their occupational therapy practice, whereas some
therapists remained skeptical of the benefits of occupational
science to occupational therapy practice. There was mixed views
on whether occupational science would provide the profession
with further understanding and improved professional identity.
Posters
Participants identified their frustrations that there remains a lack
of understanding of the profession and unable to conclude that
occupational science would help.
Conclusion: The research concludes that although there appears
to be overall support for occupational science, further training
is required for qualified occupational therapists to understand
and implement the discipline into practice. Those therapists that
have experienced occupational science during their training,
have a greater understanding and are more likely to relate
occupational science to their practice than other occupational
therapists who have not had this experience. However, there are
some therapists who cannot identify any benefit of occupational
science to the profession and although this research has
identified that occupational science does have impact on current
OT practice, it is limited to identify to what extent. What may
be more important is that future occupational therapists are
trained to critically analyse and evaluate those theories presented
to them by academics, occupational scientists and occupational
therapists, to enable them to decide which theory best supports
their practice, in whichever setting they work.
The research has highlighted growing concerns about the
pressures current occupational therapists face, and how these
limitations are impacting on professional practice influencing
professional confidence, understanding and identity. Theory
can support clinical reasoning and therefore provide therapists
with the confidence in their practice. Occupation focused
practice has been identified as demonstrating the professions
identity however, if occupation focused practice is the way
forward, a supportive infrastructure of adequate staffing levels,
effective resources, and management levels who understand
the profession, are vital to enable the profession to thrive and
prosper.
Recommendations: Further training and support on occupational
science is required as there is a distinct divide between
occupational therapists that know and use the theory, to
those who do not or feel it is of any value to the profession.
In essence, occupational therapists need to be able to relate
occupational science theory to their daily practice and further
research exploring this would be beneficial for professional
practice.
Limitations: This research was unable to explore how
occupational science was used in daily occupational therapy
practice, through the limitations of a survey method. Further
research is needed either through interview or focus groups to
gain in-depth qualitative data to explore this element.
References
Hammell, K. (2004) Dimensions of meaning in the occupations
of daily life. The Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy
71(5): 296–305
Kielhofner, G. (2009) Conceptual Foundations of Occupational
Therapy Practice 4 th ed. USA: FA Davis Company
Molineux, M. (2004) Occupation for Occupational Therapists.
Oxford: Blackwell publishing
Pierce, D. (2003) How can the occupation base of occupational
therapy be strengthened? Australian Occupational Therapy
Journal. 50:1–2
Twinley, R. and Morris, K. (2014) Are we achieving occupationfocused
practice? British Journal of Occupational Therapy 77(6):
275
Keywords
Occupational therapists, Research, Occupational science, Other
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