Occupation-Based Reflection

Through the program I have learned what the term occupation-based practice means
through the understanding of what occupations are. Occupations can be described as activities
that one engages in every day and spends most of their time and energy participating in it.
Occupations can also reflect a persons interest or skills which could provide meaning or serve to
their desired needs. In addition, occupations can also be roles and routines that provide a sense of
identity of a person within their cultural context. Due to these reasons, the field of occupational
therapy understands how occupations play a great role in a persons life and the importance to
determine what occupations are important to each client. Through occupation-based activities we
can help assist clients participate in occupations that are important to them in order to obtain
better health, well-being, and satisfaction with life.
Two specific artifacts that I would like to highlight that helped me understand
occupation-based practice are the occupational profile assignments and the occupational analysis
and intervention plan assignment. Specifically, the occupational analysis and intervention plan
was the first assignment where I created an occupational profile and performed an activity
analysis on the clients desired occupation. This assignment helped me understand the utilization
of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework in support to understanding activity analysis
and the client as an occupational-being. In addition, it helped me understand what skills are
needed to be addressed in order for a client to perform an activity. The occupational profile
assignments from third and fourth semester gave me an in-depth understanding of who the client
is and how to make goals based on their performance, skills, and needs. In addition, the
assignment also helped me identify the process of how to create an intervention plan based on
understanding who the client is holistically.

Through my fieldwork experience and in collaboration with coursework completed for

school, I was able to gain knowledge and experience towards how to implement daily
occupations that a client performs everyday through therapy goals. Although, preparatory
activities are important to address during treatment sessions, occupation-based activities are what
clients will be performing on a daily basis. Therefore, just because a client demonstrates
increased skills with preparatory activities, does not mean that those skills could be automatically
translated towards occupation-based skills. Lastly, through occupation-based interventions a
client is more motivated to perform desired activities rather than exercise based activities that is
often repetitive and has no meaning.