Social participation: Redesign of education, research, and practice in occupational therapy*

Abstract

There is growing attention to participation and social participation in literature and policy reports. Occupational therapists strongly believe that creating coherence between the person's occupations and environment will facilitate participation of each individual. Nowadays, societal developments such as “health literacy and self-management”, “Web 2.0 social media”, “empowering communities”, and “Nothing About Us Without Us” increase opportunities for people to interact on different levels of social participation. Social participation can be used as an outcome, though it can also be seen as a means to change society and to develop solutions for barriers experienced by people with chronic diseases or disabilities. Societal developments will have an impact on social participation in terms of supporting each other and contributing to society. Additionally, these changes will have a major influence on the way we educate, conduct research, and deliver occupational therapy practice.

Key words::

• social participation
• societal changes
• occupational therapy
• research
• education

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the following people who have contributed ideas and stories and have helped to make this keynote speech possible: Dr Ramon Daniëls, Mrs Barbara Casparie, and Mrs Meghan Norton.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.