Occupational therapy is one of the most and, probably, the most significant from the social point of view branches of modern science. Helping people overcome the obstacles that hinder their social communication, occupational therapy offers the enabled sense for living. Understanding the principles of the modern occupational therapy and the ideas underlying it, one can realize what enhances the enabled people’s social life and encourages them to step into the big world.
There is no doubt that the given sphere of healthcare offers many promising and prospective ideas. Considering human occupation as one of the most efficient means of helping the enabled, one can come to the conclusion that the given sphere requires more consideration. Perhaps, with the development of occupational therapy, the enabled might feel better in the world that they are not used to living in.
Therefore, one of the crucial stages of learning the prospects of occupational therapy would be to find out about its development and the ideas underlying it. Understanding what makes the machine of the occupational therapy go round, one can suggest more efficient means of curing the enabled and providing them with a more successful therapy (Mallison 2009). Learning the role of the occupational therapy in the sphere of health promotion, one can figure out the new ways of enhancing the occupational therapy effect among the enabled and thus provide them with sufficient help. Therefore, the importance of the given subject cannot be doubted. As Skaffa (2011) said, “Occupational therapy practitioners have an opportunity to complement existing health promotion efforts by adding the contribution of occupation to programs developed by experts in health education, nutrition, exercise, and so forth” (607).
Observing the Ottawa Charter (Willcock 2003) from the viewpoint of a professional OT, I would reconsider the ideas offered in the Building Healthy Public Policy sector. It seems that in the given list of the spheres demanding most attention there is certain element lacking. On the one hand, each of the aspects of the social life touched upon in the given charter cover a man’s entire life, yet there is one element lacking. This is the knowledge that matters – the importance of being informed on the basic issues of the aspects mentioned. In addition, it seems that the sphere of healthcare has not been mentioned at all, which is a doubtless oversight. Speaking of the second charter, an OT would add, perhaps, certain elements connected with work or any other occupation. Considering the spheres that make the leisure of an individual is, no doubt, important, yet taking into account the sphere of the professional interest would make the basis of a successful therapy. Concerning the third charter, I would also add such point as “encourage” – for the elements mentioned in the table to interact, there must be another medium that could bring these elements into interaction. Speaking of the fifth charter, one must say that it could enclose the accessibility of the occupational opportunities and the equality in these opportunities into a single point.
Therefore, it is obvious that the problem of the occupational therapy development and the prospects that it offers for the enabled people are of great importance for the society, as well as the relationships within a family, or, as Cahill (2009) put it, “well-matched relationship between the child, the family system, and his or her surrounding environment”. Once helping the enabled people to feel that they are a part of the community, one will help to solve one of the greatest problems of the XXI century healthcare.
Reference List
Cahill, S. M., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2009). The issue is – promoting children’s nutrition and fitness in the urban context. In American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 112-116.
Mallinson, T., et al. (2009) Human occupation for public health promotion: new directions for occupational therapy practice with persons with arthritis. In American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 220-226
Scaffa, M. E., Van Slyke, N., & Brownson, C. A. (2008) Occupational therapy services in the promotion of health and the prevention of disease and disability. In American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62 (6), 694-703
Willcock, A., & Whiteford, G. (2003) Occupation, health promotion, and the environment. In Using Environments to Enable Occupational Performance. Eds. Lori Letts, Patty Rigby & Debra Stewart. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK, 56-67