0815558 The predominant objective of Occupational Therapy is to enable and empower people participate in the activities of daily living

(ADL). The use of occupations as therapeutic agents is the main focus in the OT`s philosophy. Through occupations, Occupational Therapists used them to promote health and wellbeing. As suggested by The College of Occupational Therapists (2004), OT enables people to achieve health, wellbeing and life satisfaction through participation in occupation. In order to prevent disability and develop independent function, OT combines the concept of meaningful and purposeful occupation. Therefore, as an OT student it is essential for me to have a clear idea about this concept. Through my reading I have found the definition of a meaningful occupation which is the one that fulfill the goals that are meaningful to the person (Turner et.al 2002, p.26). On the other hand, Creek and Lougher (2008, p.45) define a meaningful occupation descriptively as the occupation that has meaning for the individual and forms a part of his personal and social identity. This essay will discuss and explore a meaningful occupation of a person that I know well and explain it in relation to that`s individual`s balance of occupations health and wellbeing. For the purpose of this assignment, I have gathered additional information from the person by utilizing active listening and appropriate interviewing approach. I have interviewed Nicholas (not real name), a Geology student from University X. Nicholas is a very enthusiastic student who having or showing great enthusiasm in everything he did or involved in. Being in the university gives him a great opportunity to explore and develop his own characteristics and abilities. A lot of things have a great impact on his development as a young adult for example social, cultural and education. However , apart from the aspects that I have mentions, Nicholas admitted that his occupations is the main aspect which play a big role in shaping him as an individual and it is link to his health and wellbeing.

0815558 In order to discuss his meaningful occupation, I have asked his opinion about meaningful occupation. From what he understands the term meaningful occupation would probably mean the activities that he loves most which have a big impact on life. Most of people will share the same thought with Nicholas about the concept of meaningful occupation. In occupational therapy this concept has been taken in more broaden area as Creek (2003), cited in Creek and Lougher (2008), postulated that the meaning of an activity is the significance or importance that is has for an individual or a social group. Moreover, Reker and Wong (1988), in Hasselkus (2002), cited in Creek and Laugher (2008), develop a thought in which meaning can be conceptualized as a continuum, with self-definitions of meaning at one end and social definitions of meaning at the other end. Engaging in various meaningful and purposeful activities and occupations such as skiing, playing football, travelling, reading and study helps the young adults in maintaining their health and well being. From Nicholas perception, there may be a few activities which he could classify as his meaningful occupations, but the most meaningful one would be his involvement in societal activities. He has been actively involved in non-academic, society and organizational work since high school. , in which most of the societies that he involved in engaged into two possibilities; either the ones that he passionate about, or activities which he found to be interesting to explore into. He stated that, each society may have their own unique activities, but the way they operate is pretty much the same. Leaders of the societies need to be passionate, objective-oriented, and able to perform multi-tasking and possess high self-esteem. They need to perform numerous tasks such as clerical work, organize meetings, run events, delivering speeches, delegating tasks to subordinates and many more. These activities have somehow shaped the way he thinks and he act; hence therefore he would say that engaging in society work is his meaningful occupation.

0815558 To explore Nicholas meaningful occupation, I have used MOHO as a framework and guideline. This model is very useful and can be applied to both, very able and less able individuals. It guides us to ask the right clinical questions in order to build a picture with the person, of their life and what they can and want to achieve. MOHO conceptualize people into three interrelated components; volition, habituation and performance capacity. This concept was echoed by the founder of MOHO, Kielhofner (2004), he emphasizes there are four elements which always oscillate together, creating conditions which out of our thoughts, feelings and behaviour emerge. The elements are; volition, habituation, performance capacity and environmental conditions. I have identified his motivation for that occupation (volition) and break up into three components. First component is values which clarified how important or meaningful is this occupation. Spiritual pleasure is the core reason why he chooses this occupation. Spiritual means to him as believing in the existing of god and he trust that in everything he engages in has god supervision. Therefore Nicholas will do everything at his best. The society benefits come as his second value which he feels that everyone has the obligation to contribute to society and according to him; it really feels good to contribute something to the community. Interest is the second components of volition which defines by Dunbar (2007) as satisfaction and enjoyment from participating in that activity. Engaging in organization work is his major interest which is from that he could personalize and build up his own characteristic and it is fundamental in the lifestyle of a young adult. As Golledge (1998a, p.26) cited in Turner (2002), quoted occupation as part of lifestyle of individual which performed in a manner that reflects on individual`s personal lifestyle. Nicholas has a lot of experience in organizing events as examples he has conducted a meeting where all Islamic society around Wales gathered and his best achievements is during his first year a student at the university, he has been chosen as a managing director for a regional camp. The third component is

0815558 personal causation (sense of capacity and self efficacy). In this component, I have recognized that as a leader to societies and clubs, Nicholas has the ability to interact and communicate well with the societies or club members. Moreover he also has a good management skills and a very high confidence level in order to organize events and programs. Habituation is the second element that I have taken into consideration when exploring Nicholas meaningful occupation. Kielhofner (2008) explained habituation as internalized readiness to exhibit patterns of behaviour guided by our habits and roles and fitted to the characteristics of routine temporal, physical and social environment. Based on my interview with Nicholas, he mentions that per day, he provides mostly two hours for his meaningful occupation such as delegating society`s task and responding to email. For the roles aspect, he plays a role as a student, society member and also as a family member. By using MOHO as a framework, it gives me an opportunity to understand and explore the concept of person-centred and holism which are the core values and beliefs that are integral to occupational therapy philosophy. It is essential for all occupational therapists to identify and examined the person`s occupation before starting the treatment process. As suggested by Polatajko (2000, p65), occupational therapy is now consistently described as a profession concerned with enabling occupations. A crucial step in enabling occupations is understanding the occupational performance of our clients. Therefore a framework called, Nelson`s framework of occupational analysis has been introduced to identify and examine the multidimensional aspects of occupation (Kramer and Hinojosa 1999, p.478). According to Kramer and Hinojosa, in this framework, an occupation is split apart into its component parts. Then, each aspect can be analyse alone in relation to the other aspects or the occupation as a whole. In exploring and investigating Nicholas`s

0815558 occupation, I have break and analyse it in the aspects of environment context, skills he uses and the meaning of that occupation. Within the environmental context, two environments aspects; physical and social, where he needs to adapt with and they have a great impact on his occupational form and performance. His physical environments are his home, school and university. For his social environments, it includes friends, family, housemate, course mate, society and also the Muslim community. The skills that he uses most while performing his occupation are cognitive, communication and psychological skills. Cognitive skill involves his memory, planning and quick thinking. Communication skill is the most essential skill that he uses and develops during engaging with the societies work. To perform this occupation, Nicholas has a very high confident level in which he needs to ensure and confirm in everything he engages in will benefit society as a whole. This skill is classified under psychological skill. Nicholas`s meaning for the occupation is almost the same as his motivation for occupation (volition) which I have already discussed in the fifth paragraph. An understanding of the importance of individual`s meaningful occupation to health and wellbeing is central within occupational therapy profession. As Christiansen & Baum (1997, p.600) cited in Creek & Laugher (2008, p. 26), offer a definition of occupational therapy as a health discipline concerned with enabling function and well being. Number of researches has been made by occupational therapists to link occupation and health. Creek & Laugher (2008) summarize the assumptions made by occupational therapists about the relationship between occupation and health. They argued that, people are occupational beings; engagement in occupation is healthy; people need a healthy balance of occupation; there are link with purpose and meaning; occupation is a tool for healthy participation in life; occupation can act as

081558 barometer for gauging health. These assumptions can be applied to Nicholas and his meaningful occupation. Involving with societal work is not an easy job; each individual has to prepare mentally and physically. Furthermore as a student, he needs to give a fully commitments on his study Therefore, in order to assure his occupation has positive impacts on his health; Nicholas has come out with his own planning that helps to keep the balance between his occupation and health. For his mental and physical healthy, he involves in sports activity twice a week in which he often play football two hours per session. According to him, this occupation gives a lot of benefits to his health especially in the aspect of mental. By engaging with this occupation it helps to keep his mind thinking all the time. Nicholas noted that his past experience influence the way he think and through involving in various activities, he build paradigm and perspectives by himself. To keep his mind working, he read a lot of books, journals and articles mostly on ideology, theology and history. While exploring and analyzing Nicholas`s meaningful occupation and its relation to health and wellbeing, I have found an idea or theory which is very useful to be included in my essay. The exponent of this idea is Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist. Based on his studies on healthy and well-functioning people, Maslow (1970) cited in Turner et.al (2002 p.19-20) concluded that the key for person`s wellbeing is their motivations. He has came out with a very interesting theory which he name it as the Maslow`s hierarchy of needs. From what I have understand, in this hierarchy, Maslow place seven motivations or needs with self actualization (prime motivator for action) needs at the top. Maslow describes that a person could only reach towards actualization once their survival needs (biological; safety; love and belonging; esteem; cognitive; aesthetic) had been meet. As an example, in the case of Nicholas and his occupation,

0815558 he could not be a leader for a society or club (self actualization) if he was struggling with his social acceptance (love and belonging needs). Therefore to keep the balance between his occupation and wellbeing he needs to fulfill all his survival needs. When linking occupation with the individual`s balance of occupation, health and well being, it is the best idea if we have a look on Meyer`s five fundamental assumptions regarding the occupational nature of humans (Turner et.al 2002 p.21). From his assumptions, the first point he has generated was, there is a fundamental link exists between health and occupation. Meyer also came out with the idea that healthy occupation maintains a balance between existing, thinking and acting. According to him, a unity exists between mind and body and when participation in occupation is interrupted, mind and body deteriorate. The last point he made was, as occupation maintains mind and body, it is suited to the restoration of functional ability. In applying this assumptions, I have take into account of Nicholas`s biological, psychological and social aspects. These three essential aspects which covers between his mind and body, helps to keep the balance of his occupation. Puberty is one of the most profound biological and social transitions in the life span. Number of psychological changes associated with puberty results from changes in physical, cognitive and hormone`s level (Smith et.al 2003). One of the changes that affected Nicholas`s life as a young adult is the maturity change. This change brings up a huge transition in the way he think and acting. For the psychological aspect, as Nicholas stated before, through reading and learning from past experience, he has developed a creative thinking way in which it helps a lot when he engage with occupations especially the meaningful one. Last but not least is the social criterion. As a young adult his social life involves the interaction with friends, family, housemates and the

0815558 member of societies. Interacting with different people from various ethnics, religious, culture and social backgrounds help to shape his identity and characteristics. The other component which interrelated with occupation and health is the wellbeing. Before moving in depth, it is better if we have a clear idea about this terminology and what it is all about. An Australian occupational therapist, Therese Schmid (2005, p.7) cited in Creek (2008, p.19) offers a specific definition of wellbeing as, a subjective experience consisting of: feelings of pleasure or various feelings of happiness, health and comfort, which can differ from person to person. On the other hand, two psychologists, Ryff & Singer (1998, cited by Hasselkus 2002, p.61) cited in Creek (2008, p.19) defines wellbeing into two features 1) leading a life of purpose, and 2) quality connections with others. Based on what I have read from the Occupational Therapy and Mental Health text book, I have found some factors which I can relate with occupation that helps to promote the sense of wellbeing. Creek (2008 p.27) suggested that contribution is the first factor that promotes wellbeing within occupation. He explains a sense of being able to give to others is an essential healthful phenomenon. When Considering with Nicholas meaningful occupation which is involving in societal activities, his first objective when engaging in this occupation is to contribute something for the society. As an ambitious young adult, Nicholas has set a target that one day he wanted to participate in a political arena. He was hoping that he could give something, not only for his country, but also for the religion. Second factor that I have take into account in which I can applied to the Nicholas`s occupation is competency. Creek describes that the ability to cope builds a positive concepts which reinforces a sense of competency. Nicholas has said to me that, apart from building his self competency, the occupation which he involves in does help in building his character, shaping his paradigm, broaden his views and widen his contacts.

0815558 Nicholas argued that, all of these are invaluable commodities which are of high importance in his professional career in the future. Involving in societal activities is not an easy occupation. Nicholas faces a lot of difficulties and complexity while engaging in this occupation. He quoted that in a society where we have more than 2 people, there will always be people with different views than ours. We did engage into serious arguments, but fortunately no harm done. However, some of these events did hurt peoples feelings. And that was bad. Another difficulties he has issues are, imbalance of time management and lack of focus in studies. However, all of these things give him valuable experience and by reducing his involvement in the societal work, now he became more organize and be able to focus with his studies. Finally, I have also identified on how Nicholas occupation could help to keep the balance between his self care, productivity and leisure. He argued that, engaging into these works do take several hours on a daily basis, in which the time could be used by doing something else, probably spending more time on self-care such as doing the laundry frequently or cook my meals. But those have been dealt with through delegation of work among my housemates. It does increase my productivity, since there are many friends around that are willing to offer a hand when Im in need. I do enjoy doing these things, which I consider as leisure as well. In conclusion, two weeks that I have spent to write on this essay finally come into the end. Compared from previous assignments, this assignment is quiet complicated and demanding. However, it was very useful for me as an occupational therapy student to explore and fully understand the meaning of occupation and its relation to health and wellbeing. All of these are the important criteria underneath the OT philosophies which are the person-centred approach, holism, meaning and occupational focus. This assignment also helps to promote our continuing

0815558 professional development (CPD). After engaging with this assignment, now I have gain understand on how OT work with clients and using occupation as a therapeutic agent which will be a good practice as an occupational therapist in the future.

0815558 References: 1. Christiansen & Baum (1997, p.600) cited in Creek & Laugher (2008, p. 26). Occupational Therapy and Health Promotion. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill and Livingstone. 2. COT (2004) COT/BAOT Briefings: Definitions and Core Skills of OT . London: College of Occupational Therapist. 3. Creek & Laugher (2008 p.27). Occupational Therapy and Wellbeing. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill and Livingstone. 4. Creek & Laugher (2008 p.26). Occupational Therapy and Health Promotion. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill and Livingstone. 5. Creek (2003), cited in Creek and Lougher (2008). The Meaning of Occupation. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone. 6. Creek and Laugher (2008). The Meaning of Occupation. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone 7. Dunbar (2007). Basic Concept of Model of Human Occupation. Occupational Therapy Models for Intervention with Children and Families. New York: Slack Incorporated. 8. Kielhofner (2004). Model of Human Occupation Theory and Application . 3rd ed. Baltimore: Lippincote Williams and Wilkins. 9. Kielhofner (2008).Summary and Definition of Habituation. Model of Human Occupation Theory and Application. 4th ed. Baltimore: Lippincote Williams and Wilkins.

10. Kramer and Hinojosa (1999). Occupational Dynamics. Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Lippincote Williams and Wilkins.

0815558 11. Maslow (1970) cited in Turner et.al (2002 p.19-20). Humanistic Psychology. Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction Principles, Skills and Practice.5th ed. London: Churchill Livingstone. 12. Polatajko HJ, Mandich A, Martini R (2000) Dynamic Performance Analysis: A Framework for Understanding Occupational Performance. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 54(1)65-73 13. Reker and Wong (1988), in Hasselkus (2002), cited in Creek and Laugher (2008). The Meaning of Occupation. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone. 14. Smith et.al (2003).Psychological Effects of Puberty. Development. 4th ed. London: Blackwell Publishing. 15. Therese Schmid (2005, p.7) cited in Creek & Laugher (2008, p.19). Wellbeing. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill and Livingstone. 16. Turner et.al (2002). Defining Occupation. Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction Principles, Skills and Practice.5th ed. London: Churchill Livingstone. Understanding Children`s

17. Turner et.al 2002 p.21. Occupation is Fundamental to Health and Wellbeing. Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction Principles, Skills and Practice.5th ed. London: Churchill Livingstone. 18. Ryff & Singer (1998, cited by Hasselkus 2002, p.61) cited in Creek & Laugher (2008, p.19). Wellbeing. Occupational Therapy and Mental Health. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Churchill and Livingstone.