OBJECTIVE This article links two dimensions of occupational therapy within the context of professionalism: the role of caring and the implications of occupational therapy being a predominantly female profession. METHOD Seven occupational therapists representing various levels of professional experience were interviewed to determine (a) how female occupational therapists perceive caring and (b...

A theoretical perspective designed for clinical application and based on fundamental occupational therapy principles is offered. This perspective, the occupational adaptation frame of reference, is presented as an articulation of (a) a normal developmental process leading to competence in occupational functioning; (b) the process through which the benefits of occupational therapy occur; and (c)...

Occupational science is a new scientific discipline that is defined as the systematic study of the human as an occupational being. A doctoral program in occupational science has been established at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. With its emphasis on the provision of a multidimensional description of the substrates, form, function, meaning, and sociocultural and historical c...

There are many unanswered questions about the concept of spirituality and its relationship to occupational performance. The role of occupational therapists in addressing clients' spiritual needs is unclear, and the inclusion of spirituality as a topic in the educational curricula of occupational therapy students requires further attention. Focus groups and surveys were used in this phenomenolog...

There is increasing demand for evidence-based health care. Back pain is one of the most common and difficult occupational health problems, but there has been no readily available evidence base or guidance on management. There are well-established clinical guidelines for the management of low back pain, but these provide limited guidance on the occupational aspects. Occupational Health Guideline...

This paper discusses older women’s “ways of doing” which are occupational strategies that facilitate successful ageing by maintaining participation in meaningful occupations. The paper adopts an occupational perspective of health. This particular view of people as occupational beings who need to participate in personally meaningful occupations for their health and well being is central to occup...

Occupational cancer is malignant neoplasm caused by exposures to carcinogenic agents at workplace. It is estimated that one out of every three people will subsequently develop cancer during their lifetime in industrialized countries. Undeveloped countries are also at increasing risk due to transfer of hazardous industries. An occupational cancer does not differ either pathologically or clinical...

The knowledge that certain occupations may lead to disease is probably as old as these occupations, but the first comprehensive effort in occupational medicine was made by Ramazzini in 1700, and the active prevention of occupational diseases began much later. Activities on an international scale were first instituted at the Congress of the International Working Men's Associations in 1867, and f...

In the Netherlands, the need for a basically new approach to education and training in occupational medicine was felt by professionals, students, schools and occupational health services (OHS) in the early 1990s. After an inventory of the problems and shortcomings of the traditional curriculum, the Netherlands School of Occupational Health defined the framework for a new curriculum. In this art...