“Making change by shared doing”: An examination of occupation in processes of social transformation in five case studies

Abstract

Background

As social and health inequalities deepen around the world, scholarship in occupational therapy and occupational science has increasingly emphasised the role of occupation as a powerful tool in transformative processes.

Objective

To explore how opportunities for everyday doing together may contribute to processes of social transformation by identifying ways occupation is being taken up in socially-transformative practice.

Material and Methods

A generic descriptive qualitative case study design was utilised in order to describe current practice examples and identify ways occupation was being taken up in five initiatives working towards social transformation located in Canada, Germany, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Results

Focussing on the positioning of occupation within the initiatives, three themes were developed: The intentionality of the process, the nature of occupation within the initiatives, and the role of occupation within the processes of social transformation.

Conclusions and Significance

Providing examples of agency on the micro level and of engagement with socioeconomic, political and cultural power structures at the societal level, this analysis raises important considerations in addressing how occupational therapy practice can move in socially responsive and transformative directions.

Keywords:

• Occupational science
• occupational therapy
• social change
• transformative practice

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Dr Claire Craig, Professor of Design and Creative Practice in Health and Co-Director of Lab4Living, Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, UK, for conducting one of the interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE) for financial support of this research.