Elisa Santizo

Occupation-based Practice Reflection

This theme has been a huge area for personal growth and understanding on a
personal level. I would say that I came into the program with more of a physical
therapy mindset from my past work using yoga therapy for physical dysfunction. I
understood through early projects such as the 1 st semester occupational analysis
paper the value of meaningful occupation, but I continued to view occupation as an
idealized life. I thought I could take a client and suggest occupations that would be
most beneficial to therapeutic outcomes.
Early in 5th semester Social Justice class, we had discussions on occupations
labeled as bad or good. Its east to argue from a healthcare perspective that
some occupations are not healthy, such as smoking cigarettes or watching hours on
television on end. While I sided with the class consensus in the beginning, my view
gradually began to change. By studying marginalized populations in the course,
some by choice such as legal prostitutes, I grew a greater appreciation for human
volitional choice. I now see our role as occupational therapists differently. I feel we
can do a lot with client education to empower individuals to make healthy choices
and to give them the tools to make difficult changes in their lives if that is what they
desire. But ultimately everyone is different. I am growing increasingly aware of the
interdependence of mental and physical health, and how both affect life choices. A
clients choice to smoke cigarettes could be due to cultural norms, physical
dependency on nicotine, or as a coping mechanism for traumas of the past. It is
likely a complicated combination of those factors and more.

Our role as occupational therapists is unique in how we address clients

holistically from an occupation-based perspective, but I believe that brings great
responsibility. As medicine moves towards preventative measures, and as OT enters
primary care practice, I think education and lifestyle medicine will be a greater part
of practice. I hope that my understanding of occupation-based practice continues to
grow, as well as my acceptance of clients right to choose occupations that they find
meaningful.
I have also grown in my appreciation for therapeutic means that are
occupation-based as opposed to non-purposeful. When working in the classroom, it
was hard for me to see why, for instance, stacking cans on a shelf is better than
using weights. I felt like these activities were forced and unnecessary. Now that I
have experience working with actual clients, and have heard my classmates give
detailed accounts of the value of using occupation-based therapy with their adult
clients with conditions such as stroke, I see how this makes a huge difference in
client motivation as well as outcomes. During 6 th semester Leadership in
Occupational Therapy class, Dr. Braveman gave a lecture on cognitive interventions,
and the research he presented on using occupation-based versus non-purposeful
tasks really resonated with me as to the benefit of using the former on client
outcomes. I now see that our professions use of occupation sets us apart from
other disciplines in a beneficial way that can improve patient outcomes.