This issue of Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy focuses on how some central concepts in occupational therapy are perceived and put into practice, namely; occupation, client-centred and participation. In one article we are presented with an occupation-related taxonomy, building on the terms occupation-centred, occupation-based and occupation-focused, aiming to elucidate what occupational therapists really do and how. Critical self-reflection among occupational therapy practitioners, educators and scientists is also fostered by the use of OTIPM (Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model) in demonstrating the power of occupation in practice. Another article puts forward criticism to the use of the concept client-centred practice, showing that few occupational therapy researchers have sought clients' perceptions of the client-centred nature of their occupational therapy services. According to the authors, nor is occupational therapy research consistently undertaken in a collaborative manner.
AusTOM-OT (Australian Therapy Outcome Measures for Occupational Therapy) is an instrument building on the ICF and measures occupational therapy services in all occupational therapy practice fields. The Swedish version, AusTOMs-OT-S, was tested concerning inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the Self-care and Transfer scales as well as the intra-rater reliability of all scales. To sum up, preliminary reliability for the Swedish translation was demonstrated. A Danish translation of the “Impact on Participation and Autonomy Questionnarire” (IPAQ-DK) was conducted and an estimation of its internal consistency and test-retest reliability was carried out, in order to promote participation-based interventions and research. As a result, further studies of its floor/ceiling effects and responsiveness to change were recommended.
The responsiveness of a new participation measure, the Utrecht Scale for Evaluation of Rehabilitation-Participation (USER-participation) was compared with that of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy (IPA). The concurrent validity of these two instruments was also assessed. It was found that the USER-participation was at least as responsive as the IPA. Additionally, satisfaction with participation as measured with the USER-participation was highly similar to the concept of autonomy in participation as measured with the IPA.
A study carried out in the Netherlands aimed to investigate how mechanical ventilation-dependent adults with neuromuscular disorders experienced their occupational and social participation. Thematic analysis brought out that the participants wanted to be taken seriously in all aspects of life. Facilitating experiences of meaningful occupations in connection with autonomy and self-determination would provide a more client-centred approach. In a Finnish study it was examined how craft makers described the meaning of craft as an activity in relation to their wellbeing. The results indicated that the participants noticed the significance of craft as an agony- and stress-reducing and mind-calming activity. It was found that holistic craft and ordinary craft played different roles in maintaining wellbeing. Finally, we can read about a Swedish study investigating how occupational therapists administer housing adaptation cases, how they perceived the housing adaptation process, and which improvements they considered necessary. It was stressed that to a very large extent housing adaptations seem to be based on non-standardized procedures for assessment, and only a few of them were evaluated systematically.