Occupying Daily Life: Evoking the Powers of Occupation

Abstract

Ocupational Science and Ocupational Therapy literature support a way of working based on planning strategies towards goals of enabling meaningful occupation. However, do our prevailing approaches of creating future possibilities make full use of the powers of occupation in support of persons’ health and well-being? In this paper Narrative-in-Action methodologies and transaction theory are used to translate research findings into an alternative, additional approach. This paper will explore how possibilities arise from daily life and therapeutic situations. Recognizing these, often unplanned, emerging opportunities and bringing its' possibilities into reality can have various benefits. In addition to bringing people incrementally closer to a daily life they find fulfilling, it can provide people with experiences of health and well-being, even while in the midst of recovery from a disabling illness or injury.