Balance of Healthy Occupations - Dissertation Example

Balance of Healthy Occupations Chaper Introduction The profession of occupational therapist is concerned with providing activities that are intended to help a patient to regain physical or psychological abilities that have been lost (Punwar and Peloquin: Cooper: Lougher). However, part of the importance of occupational therapy is overlooked by those who feel that they are not specifically experiencing losses in their lives due to imbalances that work with an occupational therapist could resolve. Adults will often take on occupational roles in order to help them find balance in their lives, however, this provides proof of the essential services that an occupational therapist could provide to the average individual rather than a lack of a need (Meriano and Latella: Ross: Jones). The following proposal will provide a background and rationale for the intended research. The problem will be discussed so that the intended research can be understood for its purpose. The second section of the proposal will provide aims and objectives for the intended research Finally, the third part of the proposal will provide an intended methodology from which the study will be conducted in order to provide some resolutions for the objectives. The overall proposal is intended to provide a framework for the intended dissertation on the topic of defining balance through healthy occupations. Background Occupational choices are defined by Turner, Foster, and Johnson as either a “deliberate commitment to enter an occupational role, acquire a new habit, or undertake a personal project” (27). They further the discussion about the definition of an occupational role through disclosure that these roles are not always defined by an active choice, but are sometimes imposed upon an individual. An example of this can be the role of head of the family. Occupations are most often seen as long term endeavors which are separate from the concept of an activity which is more often seen in a short term devotion to a task or purpose (Sumsion). Occupations are concerned with long term concepts that require diligence and effort towards goals which may be finite, but are more often sets of goals that continue forward through the occupational effort (Edmons). Creating a healthy balance of occupations concerns balancing the different elements of the roles that a person undertakes in order to assure that in pursuing these roles, a balance is essential in sustaining health and preventing illness. The World Health Organization or WHO suggests that in order to define well being one must look at “the total universe of human life domains including physical, mental, and social aspects” (Wilcock 310). In order to achieve harmony and balance, all aspects of human experience must be examined and assessed in order to provide the clarity that supports well-being (Lundy and Janes 546). A very important distinction that must be made during the study of balance of occupations is that between health and wellness. Health is defined by activities that lead toward well-being. While the terms can be overlapped, more often health is considered a state of physical being that is a part of the balance of a “dynamic integration of mind, body, spirit, emotions, and environment” (Velde and Wittman 69). Therefore in studying the balance of healthy occupations, the state of well-being must be taken into consideration. How roles are chosen and how they affect the aspects of the five aspects of wellness are relevant to the overall balance of those roles of occupation. The following factors should be taken into consideration when discussing balancing occupations: a concern with a person as a physical, thinking, emotional, spiritual, and social being who has a past, present and future, and who functions within physical and social environments; a belief in intrinsic motivation - an innate predisposition to explore and act on the environment and to use one’s capacities; a recognition of each person’s need for a balance of occupations in his life in order to: facilitate development, give meaning to life, satisfy inherent needs, realize personal and biological potentials, adapt to changing circumstances and maintain health; an acceptance of the social nature of people and of the importance of social interaction in shaping what we become; a view of health as a subjective experience of well-being, resulting from being able to achieve and maintain a sense of meaning and balance in life; a belief in the responsibility and capability of people to find health ways of adapting to changing circumstances by what they do; an acceptance of the role of occupational therapists in serving the occupational needs of people in order to help them restore meaning and balance to their lives; and a belief in occupation as the central organizing concept of the profession and in the use of activity as the main treatment medium (Creek and Lougher: Stein and Cutler). According to the systems model of motor behavior, four different aspects of activity must be in balance in over for overall well-being to be achieved. The cognitive, psychosocial, and sensor motor person; the physical, socioeconomic, and cultural environment; the daily living, work, and play/leisure occupational performance, and the role performance, which comes from the balance between the person and the environment, must all be closest to their optimum in order to create wellbeing (Radomski and Latham 199). Rationale for Study One of the most consistent complaints from people in terms of their occupational choices is that they tend to overwhelm their experience so that they do not feel in balance. Understanding the way in which balance is achieved in comparison to those who do not feel as if they have balanced their roles can help to promote a better sense of well-being as well as to contribute to the prevention of illness through higher levels of satisfaction in life. Through decreasing stress factors in occupations, a decrease in illness can be appreciated through balance. According to Winstanley and Woodall, approximately 35% of all illness that creates time away from work is due to stress or depression related to the work experiences. Approximately 2.2 million people suffer from mental illnesses that are a result of stress from the work place. Mental illness is one of the top three causes of employee absences. In addition, 2-3 percent of losses incurred from employee illness is due to stress factors that have caused illnesses (105). Statistics show that 150,000 people leave their jobs every year due to illness that forces them to take state assistence. Another 180,000 change jobs due to stress. In addition, 40% of all Incapacity Benefit claimants list behavioral or mental illness issues as the primary cause of their application (Kinder, Hughes and Cooper 224). Statement of Problem Occupational balance is an important area of study because in assessing occupational issues, there are a series of misconceptions that prevent full value to exist in the occupational therapy that is offered. Furthermore, there are many assumptions about the concept of occupation as it relates to work that disallow the realities of work in that it causes stress, disrupts sleep, and prevents well-being through the ‘enslavement’ that encloses the event of work so that it does not achieve its fulfilment for the worker. According to Curtin Molineux and Supyk-Mellson, 20% of all British believe that their work is overly stressful and that it is leading to a “crisis in human sustainability” as the course that the stress leads to cannot possibly be sustained at that level with health retained. Furthermore, the many occupations that are not directly associated with paid work, such as parenting roles, family roles, and personal goals that require devotion often add to the stress rather than providing balance (Mooney and Ireson). Chapter Two: Aim and Objectives Aim The aim of this study is to provide a framework from which to ascertain the definition of healthy occupations for adults and in what way they can be put into balance. In creating a definition of balanced healthy occupations, this study can provide meaning for occupational therapists as they pursue the well-being of their patients. Objectives The following objectives will be used in order to create a framework from which to define the concept of balanced healthy occupations for adults: To discover what types of occupations provide relief from stress and which promote stress To determine what percentage of stressful occupations can be countered by those that provide relief from stress To determine the difference between a healthy occupation and an unhealthy occupation To determine the percentage of the population has only stress inducing occupations To determine how stress inducing occupations can be balanced so that they do not create high levels of stress To create a framework from which occupational therapists can predict how a person’s well-being can be determined in regard to the balance of their occupations Chapter Three: Process Research is an important part of being an occupational therapist. According to Duncun, “occupational therapists have a responsibility to the continuing development of the profession by utilizing critical evaluation and participating in audit and research”. In order to contribute to the research in occupational therapy issues, the following methodology will be used. Methodology In order to discover the best possible definition of how to understand the balance of healthy occupations, a search of secondary research will be conducted. In addition, a survey instrument will be used on a section of the population in order to provide for primary research from which to further define the topic of the balance of healthy occupations. Search Strategy In order to search relevant literature for information that can provide revelations on defining the balance of healthy occupations, relevant books will be assessed for their value in illuminating the topic. Journals will be searched through available databases as well as an internet search that can provide further information. Internet information will be evaluated for validity through discovery of the accreditation of the authors as well as fact checking the relevant statistical information. Data Analysis Data analysis will be through quantitative study of the results of the survey instrument as combined with the relevant literature. SPSS software will be used in order to create the desired results in relationship with the frequencies as observed through the answers on the survey. Variables will be evaluated and related to the information that has been obtained through the literature review. Works Cited Cooper, Jill. Occupational Therapy in Oncology and Palliative Care. Chichester: Whurr, 2006. Print. Creek, Jennifer, and Lesley Lougher. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier, 2008. Print. Curtin, Michael, Matthew Molineux, and Jo-anne Supyk-Mellson. Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction: Enabling Occupation. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier, 2010. Print. Duncan, Edward A. S. Skills for Practice in Occupational Therapy. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier, 2009. Print. Edmans, Judi. Occupational Therapy and Stroke. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley- Blackwell, 2010. Print. Jones, Derek. Sociology and Occupational Therapy: An Integrated Approach. Edinburgh ;New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1998. Print. Kinder, Andrew, Rick Hughes, and Cary L. Cooper. Employee Well-Being Support: A Workplace Resource. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Print. Lougher, Lesley. Occupational Therapy for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Edinburgh ; Toronto: Churchill Livingstone, 2001. Print. Lundy, Karen S, and Sharyn Janes. Essentials of Community-Based Nursing. Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2003. Print. Mooney, Madeleine, and Claire Ireson. Occupational Therapy in Orthopaedics and Trauma. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print. Meriano, Catherine, and Donna Latella. Occupational Therapy Interventions: Function and Occupations. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK, 2008. Print. Punwar, Alice J, and Suzanne M. Peloquin. Occupational Therapy: Principles and Practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000. Print. Radomski, Mary V, and Catherine A. T. Latham. Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008. Print. Ross, Joanne. Occupational Therapy and Vocational Rehabilitation. Chichester, England: John Wiley and Sons, 2007. Print. Stein, Franklin, and Susan K. Cutler. Psychosocial Occupational Therapy: A Holistic Approach. Australia: Delmar/Thomson Learning, 2002. Print. Sumsion, Thelma. Client-centred Practice in Occupational Therapy: A Guide to Implementation. Edingburgh ;New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1999. Print. Turner, Ann, Margaret Foster, and Sybil E. Johnson. Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction: Principles, Skills and Practice. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 2001. Print. Velde, Beth P. and Peggy Prince Wittman. Community Occupational Therapy Education and Practice. New York: The Haworth Press, 2001. Print. Wilcock, Ann A. An Occupational Perspective of Health. Thorofare, NJ: SLACK, 2006. Print. Winstanley, Diana, and Jean Woodall. Ethical Issues in Contemporary Human Resource Management. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. Print. Read More