The linkage between patterns of daily occupations and occupational balance: Applications within occupational science and occupational therapy practice

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of inclusion of studies for the comparative analysis.

Table 1. Description of the 19 included studies on patterns of daily occupations.

Reference number	Authors	Study aim	Study group	Aspect of patterns of daily occupations
[20]	Persson et al. (2001)	To propose a model for analysing occupational value and meaning in occupations.	–	Taxonomies
[21]	Erlandsson and Eklund (2001)	To compare four methods for studying patterns of daily occupations.	Woman with complex everyday life (n = 1)	Taxonomies
[22]	DeLany and Jones (2009)	To explore and describe teen mothers’ time allocations and occupational choices.	Teen mothers 14–20 years (n = 9)	Taxonomies
[23]	Bradley et al. (2011)	To examine homeless people with regard to their volition, recurrent patterns in their everyday lives, capacity in occupational performance and physical and social environments.	People who are homeless (n = 15)	Taxonomies
[24]	Farnworth (2000)	To explore the pattern of time use including leisure occupations of a sample of young offenders in Melbourne, Australia.	Teenagers 13–18 years (n = 37)	Taxonomies
[25]	Bejerholm and Eklund (2004)	To describe the time use of persons with schizophrenia, reflecting the participants’ daily occupations in social and geographical environments.	People with schizophrenia (n = 10)	Taxonomies
[26]	Larson and von Eye (2010)	To explore configurations of activity factors related to time in passing and subjective experience during everyday activities.	University students 18–34 years (n = 35)	Taxonomies
[27]	Lynch (2009)	To explore and identify the palette of activity patterns of typical Irish inner-city children.	Children 5–8 years (n = 34)	Taxonomies
[28]	Bendixen et al. (2006)	To review definitions of activity and occupational patterns as a foundation for a new research-based way of conceptualizing occupational patterns.	–	Taxonomies
[29]	Yerxa et al. (1990)	To explore and define the roots of Occupational science and its potential contribution to Occupational therapy.	–	Taxonomies
[30]	Wood (1995)	To employ a metaphor of weaving a warp and weft of occupational therapy. Reflections of occupational therapy’s philosophical beliefs and humanistic values.	–	Taxonomies
[31]	Erlandsson et al. (2004)	To develop and evaluate a process for analysing and characterizing perceived patterns of daily occupations by describing patterns as consisting of main, hidden and unexpected occupations.	Mothers (n = 100)	Complexity
[32]	Bejerholm and Eklund (2006)	To describe engagement in daily occupations of 10 women and 10 men with schizophrenia.	People with schizophrenia (n = 20)	Complexity
[33]	Orban et al. (2012)	To investigate the usefulness of a time-geographical diary method in combination with interviews to facilitate reflections on how patterns of daily occupations change over time.	Mothers (n = 2)	Complexity
[34]	Primeau (1998)	To explore the nature of parents’ participation in household work and in play with their children	Families with preschool-aged children (n = 20)	Complexity
[35]	Liedberg et al. (2004)	To explore time use and activity patterns in women with long-term pain.	Women with long-term pain (n = 16)	Alteration
[36]	Krupa et al. (2003)	To examine daily time use of clients of assertive community treatment as a measure of their community adjustment and well-being.	People with special needs (n = 27)	Alteration
[37]	Areberg and Bejerholm (2013)	To investigate the effectiveness of Individual Placement and Support with regard to non-vocational outcomes.	People with severe mental illness (n = 120)	Alteration
[38]	Orban et al. (2014)	To explore any change in parents’ time use together with their children over the course of a one-year occupation-focused family intervention.	Families with preschool-aged children (n = 30)	Alteration

Table 2. Description of the 32 included studies on occupational balance.

Reference number	Authors	Study aim	Study group	Aspect of occupational balance
[2]	Håkansson et al. (2009)	To examine how subjective experiences of engagement in daily occupations were associated with perceived health among women of working age.	Women in middle age (n = 488)	Harmonic mix
[5]	Wilcock et al. (1997)	To test the effectiveness of a questionnaire to explore perceptions of occupational balance and its relationship to health.	The general population (n = 146)	Harmonic mix
[10]	Meyer (1977)	To present the philosophy of occupational therapy.	–	Harmonic mix
[11]	Wada et al. (2010)	To discuss four theoretical perspectives drawn from the literature.	–	Harmonic mix
[39]	Anaby et al (2010)	To advance the theoretical discussion of occupational balance, its measurement and relationship to well-being.	People in general (n = 122)	Harmonic mix/Abilities and resources
[40]	Håkansson et al. (2006)	To gain insight into balance in everyday life of women with stress-related disorders	Women who were past the first phase of recovery from stress-related disorders (n = 19)	Harmonic mix/Abilities and resources/Congruence with values
[41]	Backman (2004)	To review theoretical discussions and definitions of occupational balance, findings from selected studies, and highlight some methods for measuring aspects of occupational balance.	–	Harmonic mix
[42]	Bejerholm (2010)	To illuminate the concept of occupational balance in relation to occupational engagement, sense of coherence, symptoms and quality of life.	People with schizophrenia (n = 72)	Harmonic mix/Abilities and resources/Congruence with values
[43]	Wilcock (1998)	To delineate the links between human occupation and various aspects of health and well-being.	–	Harmonic mix/Abilities and resources
[44]	Forhan and Backman (2009)	To identify factors associated with three indicators of occupational balance.	People with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 169)	Harmonic mix
[45]	Wagman et al. (2011)	To explore the perception of life balance among working people without recent long-term sick leave.	Working people without recent long-term sick leave (n = 19)	Harmonic mix
[46]	Stamm et al. (2009)	To critically examine the existing assumptions regarding occupational balance.	People with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 10)	Harmonic mix
[47]	Eriksson et al. (2010)	To describe how former clients with stress-related disorders and rehabilitation team members experience the rehabilitation process, and to describe how experiences from the rehabilitation have been integrated into the former clients’ everyday lives.	People with stress-related disorders (n = 8) Rehabilitation team members (n = 7)	Harmonic mix/Congruence with values
[48]	Leufstadius et al. (2009)	To investigate how people with persistent mental illness, with various types of work and employment conditions, experience and describe the meaningfulness of work.	Employed people with mental illness (n = 12)	Harmonic mix
[49]	Sandqvist and Eklund (2008)	To describe activity level and occupational balance in women with limited systemic sclerosis.	Women with systemic sclerosis (n = 44)	Harmonic mix
[50]	Argentzell et al. (2012)	To examine different facets of meaning that people who are severely mentally ill and unemployed may find in their everyday occupations.	Persons with severe mental illness (n = 12)	Harmonic mix
[51]	Jonsson et al. (2000)	To explore retirement as an occupational transition.	Persons aged 66 years (n = 29)	Harmonic mix
[52]	Ludwig (1997)	To explore how routine occupations influences and health and well-being in older women.	Healthy older women (n = 7)	Harmonic mix
[53]	Matuska and Eriksson (2008)	To explore the experiences, perceptions, and attitudes about lifestyle balance	Women with multiple sclerosis (n = 13)	Harmonic mix/Congruence with values
[54]	Ahlstrand et al. (2012)	To describe experiences of pain and its relationship to daily activities in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)	People with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 33)	Abilities and resources
[55]	Österholm et al. (2013)	To explore how men with arthritis perceive their ability to maintain working	Men with arthritis (n = 9)	Abilities and resources
[56]	Sandqvist et al. (2012)	To explore how people with systemic sclerosis manage their work life	People with systemic sclerosis (n = 17)	Abilities and resources
[57]	Stamm et al. (2004)	To explore occupational balance in women who have RA.	Women with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 9)	Abilities and resources
[58]	Pooremamali et al. (2015)	To explore occupational well-being among Middle Eastern immigrants to Sweden, as reflected in the occupations they perform in psychosocial rehabilitation.	Immigrant from the Middle East (n = 10)	Abilities and resources
[59]	Matuska et al. (2013)	To address if there is a demographic profile of people with the highest/lowest life balance scores, and if life balance predicts perceived stress scores after controlling for demographic variances	Women and men from a general population (n = 1048)	Abilities and resources
[60]	Hammel (2004)	To highlight the contributions that occupation makes to meaning in people’s lives, furthering the suggestion that occupation might be viewed as comprising dimensions of meaning: doing, being, belonging and becoming.	–	Congruence with values
[61]	Yazdani et al. (2016)	To investigate the understanding of occupational balance of a group of experienced occupational therapists who held positions in Iran.	Iranian occupational therapists (n = 10)	Congruence with values
[62]	Ludwig et al. (2007)	To illuminate the effects that providing care to grandchildren has on grandmothers’ occupational lives	Grandmothers (n = 7)	Congruence with values
[63]	Gropper et al. (2010)	To examine work-life flexibility policies at Canadian medical schools regarding e.g. parental leave, adoption leave, part-time faculty appointments, job sharing, and child care.	Canadian medical schools (n = 17)	Congruence with values
[64]	Strong et al. (2013)	To gain a nuanced understanding of work–life balance issues from the perspective of a large and diverse group of faculty clinician-researchers and their mentors.	Former recipients of U.S. NIH career development awards (n = 100) and their mentors (n = 28).	Congruence with values
[65]	Morgan (2010)	To propose arguments for a link between occupational satisfaction with ‘wholehearted action’.	–	Congruence with values
[66]	Håkansson et al. (2011)	To explore the associations between different subjective perceptions of daily occupations and life satisfaction, and the role of perceived control in those associations.	Women in middle age (n = 488)	Congruence with values

Figure 2. The linkage between patterns of daily occupations and occupational balance under influence of environmental factors.

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