Occupational style, the prodigal son: The revival of a construct.

Abstract

One of the aims of the ICF is to provide a scientific basis for consequences of health conditions. However, the ICF does not include a list of personal factors, as no international consensus could be achieved on the structure of such a list. This leads to many broad and disparate poorly defined variables. For the ergonomics consultant the term occupational style appears to be a promising umbrella construct.

Results from recent research have increased the popularity of the construct ‘work style’, in several disciplines. Work style is related to the ‘old’ construct of occupational style. In this article, we plea for the revival of occupational style which implies focussed attention to further develop the theoretical construct and its practical implications for research, assessment, and treatment/ intervention for occupational therapists working as ergonomic consultants.

Keywords:

• International Classification of Functioning (ICF)
• Occupational therapy
• occupational style
• work style.