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Chapter from “Promoting occupational participation: Collaborative relationship-focused occupational therapy”

Laliberte-Rudman, Aldrich, and Kiepek advocate for conceptualizations of occupation that embrace understandings and experiences beyond the Global North. They define a wholistic definition of occupation, drawing on critical reflexivity and critical awareness and offer implications for practice, scholarship, and education.

Proposed definition of occupation: 

Occupation was defined by Laliberte Rudman and colleagues (2022) as “a wide-ranging expanse of everyday and extraordinary doings of individuals and groups, which have implications for individuals, societies, and the earth” (p. 15). This broad framing envisions expanding conceptualisations of occupation beyond Western values and ideologies that privilege individualism, objective scientific rationality, and human superiority over nature. 

Laliberte Rudman, D., Aldrich, R. M., & Kiepek, N. (2022). Evolving understandings of occupation. In M. Egan & G. Restall (Eds.), Promoting occupational participation: Collaborative relationship-focused occupational therapy (pp. 11-30). Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.