Global perspectives on migration and forced displacement: Theory, research, and practices for enacting an occupation-based approach

ABSTRACT

This commentary reports on the international dialogic session delivered at the inaugural World Occupational Science Conference in Vancouver (2022) and a subsequent pre-congress workshop held at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists congress in Paris (2022). Global estimates of migration are at an all-time high, with forced migrants accounting for a staggering number, representing approximately 1% of the global population (Migration Policy Institute, 2022). Occupational scientists and therapists can make a significant contribution to developing knowledge and supporting action to address the numerous occupational implications of migration. Ongoing dialogue within occupational science and therapy is required to help ensure that; 1) theoretical bases are relevant, 2) ethical and methodologically collaborative robust research is conducted, and 3) the knowledge and skills necessary for working with migrants and addressing systemic barriers to occupational participation are being developed and shared by occupational scientists within the occupational therapy community.

Este comentario da cuenta de la sesión de diálogo internacional celebrada en la Conferencia inaugural de la Ciencia Ocupacional Mundial en Vancouver (2022), así como de un taller posterior a ésta y previo al congreso de la Federación Mundial de Terapeutas Ocupacionales realizado en París (2022). Las estimaciones globales sobre el flujo migratorio humano son muy elevadas y los migrantes forzosos representan una cifra asombrosa, que equivale a, aproximadamente, 1% de la población mundial (Migration Policy Institute, 2022). Los científicos y terapeutas ocupacionales pueden contribuir de forma significativa a potenciar conocimientos y a apoyar acciones que aborden las numerosas implicaciones ocupacionales de la migración. Dentro de la ciencia y la terapia ocupacionales se requiere un diálogo continuo, que contribuya a garantizar que: 1) las bases teóricas son relevantes; 2) se llevan a cabo investigaciones éticas y robustas, con el uso de metodologías colaborativas; y 3) dentro de la comunidad de la terapia ocupacional se están impulsando el conocimiento y las habilidades necesarias para trabajar con migrantes y abordar las barreras sistémicas a la participación ocupacional, al tiempo que las mismas son compartidas por los científicos ocupacionales.

本评论报道了在温哥华首届世界生活活动科学大会（2022 年）上举行的国际对话会议以及随后在巴黎世界生活活动治疗师联合会大会（2022 年）上举行的会前研讨会。 据估计，全球性移民处于历史最高水平，迫使性移民的数量惊人，约占全球人口的 1%（移民政策研究所，2022 年）。 生活活动科学家和治疗师可以为开发知识和支持行动做出重大贡献，以解决由于移民而产生的若干种生活活动影响。 需要在生活活动科学和治疗领域进行持续对话，以帮助确保： 1) 理论基础是相关的，2) 道德和方法论方面的协作研究得以进行，3) 由生活活动治疗界的生活活动科学家进行开发和分享与移民合作和解决生活活动参与的系统性障碍所需的知识和技能。

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational science
• Migration: Occupation
• Theory

Author Profiles

Concettina Trimboli is an occupational therapist who has 22 years of experience working in Australia, London, Barcelona, Sweden, and Bremen. Her experiences range from working in paediatrics, brain injury, spinal cord injury, mental health, acute, rehabilitative and community settings. Her expertise includes assessment, intervention planning, and functional rehabilitation of clients of all ages and backgrounds. In addition, she is interested in the development of her profession, contributing to research and publication. Concettina has completed a Master of Advanced Occupational Therapy via distance learning at Salford University and is now a PhD Candidate at Curtin University. Her interests include the occupational needs of refugees and asylum seekers. She is currently the co-chair of the Refugee Empowerment Task Force (American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine) and created and administers the Facebook page ‘Forcedmigration4OT’.

Sara Abdo is an instructor and doctoral student in the School of Occupational Therapy at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia. Sara began her career in occupational therapy working in refugee resettlement and remains connected with the local community. In clinical education, Sara has supervised several occupational therapy students working within a primary care clinic for people with forced migrant experiences. Her current research focusses on the criminalization of refugee youth experiences with trauma. Sara is a proud Ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ (pronounced nee-rem-en-keemi) woman and aspiring humanist. She is also the co-founder and present co-chair of the Occupational Justice for Newcomers Network.

Mansha Mirza is an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. An occupational therapist by profession, she has advanced doctoral and postdoctoral training in disability studies and health services research. Her research interests focus on identifying and addressing disparities in health and rehabilitation services among immigrant and refugees in the United States. She has published widely on this topic. Her publications include peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters, commentaries, and policy briefs. She also serves as co-chair of the Refugee Empowerment Task Force within the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Mary Black is an occupational therapist employed at the Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center in Chicago, Illinois since 1995. The Kovler Center is a community-based treatment center providing healing for survivors of politically sanctioned torture who represent over 60 nations. The survivors at the Marjorie Kovler Center are primarily asylum seekers but also refugees and unaccompanied minors who all have experienced turbulent migration. Mary assesses the everyday skills, strengths, and interest’s survivors bring from their home countries, mindful of the legacy of trauma and the adaptations needed to perform everyday occupations in new unfamiliar environments. Individual and group interventions are designed collaboratively to maximize survivor skills, roles, and interests and support re-establishment of safety, dignity, and social networks, promoting collective cultural, as well as individual self-expression.

Yda J. Smith is a professor at the University of Utah in Occupational Therapy and has developed and directs the University of Utah Immigration and Refugee Resettlement Fieldwork Program, which has grown to include students from academic institutions across the United States. This program assists newly arrived immigrants, particularly those who arrived with refugee status, to adapt and adjust to life in the U.S. She has presented on this topic at numerous conferences in the U.S. and abroad and has published several articles related to refugee resettlement. In addition, she has a chapter in the textbook Culture and Occupation titled: Fostering Cultural Awareness through Fieldwork with People from a Refugee Background, as well as a chapter in Occupational Therapies Without Borders (2^nd ed.) titled Occupational Justice and Advocacy: Work with Former Refugees & Asylum Seekers at Personal and Community Levels.

Chantal Christopher is a community-based practitioner passionate about doing real solution focused work in local communities in relevant ways that match context, but also speak to systemic advocacy. As an academic she finds herself nestled somewhere between Edward Said, Franz Fanon, Steven Biko, and Paulo Freire, which frames her positionality and speaks to social justice and consciousness. She has worked in a myriad of contexts and cultures, proving to herself that the human condition is similar and yet based within different systems contexts and social determinants. She believes that occupational scientists are at a critical juncture. How can we, as academics, facilitate a better world from this position? How can we take the university onto the streets and build critical acts of resistance into our everyday work against systemic injustice? How we work, think, engage, research, and write should directly affect the pedestrian, inherited, and oft oppressive conditions in society.

Suzanne Huot is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at The University of British Columbia (UBC). She leads the Community-University Partnerships research group of UBC’s Centre for Migration Studies and is an active member of the Occupational Justice for Newcomers Network. Her critical qualitative research examines global migration and its occupational implications. In particular, she studies Francophone immigration to Canada that examines the roles of language and community spaces in shaping occupational engagement.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the participation of Nadine Blankvoort, Natasha Damiano, Anne-Cécile Delaisse, Goli Hashemi, Hannah Marquez, Margarita Mondaca, Holly Reid, Atieh Razavi Yekta, and Natalia Rivas Quarneti in the preparation of content for the dialogic session at the inaugural World Occupational Science Conference in Vancouver Canada and pre-congress workshop at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists in Paris, France.

Disclosure Statement

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