The Feasibility of Interventions Based on Meaningful and Psychologically Rewarding Occupations in Improving Health and Well-Being

Abstract

We investigated the feasibility of interventions based on the guidelines for use of meaningful and psychologically rewarding occupations as a means of improving perceived health and well-being among 21 students, faculty, and staff at a US midwestern University. Using a repeated measures design, we used the RAND SF-36, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, and Meaningful Activity Participation Assessment to gather data on four variables. There was a main effect of interventions on perceived well-being, F_{(2, 40)} = 3.74, p = .03, ɳ² = .40, and energy/fatigue, F_{(2, 40)} = 4.57, p = .02, ɳ² = .43. The guidelines show promise as a tool for occupational therapists.

Keywords:

• Occupational therapy
• perceived health
• well-being
• meaningfulness
• psychologically rewarding

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Noel Bjerken for her assistance with data gathering and literature review during this research study. Her assistance was invaluable.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.