Statement—Fundamental Concepts of Occupational Therapy: Occupation, Purposeful Activity, and Function

Deriving from the philosophical basis of the profession, occupation is the core concept of the profession of occupational therapy. However, in the occupational therapy literature, the term occupation is used in a variety of ways. Occupation, a collection of activities that people use to fill their time and give life meaning, is organized around roles or in terms of activities of daily living, work and productive activities, or pleasure, for survival, for necessity, and for their personal meaning. It is the individualized, unique combination of activities that comprises an individual's occupations. Purposeful activities have been described in many different ways: as something all people engage in; as tools or media that therapists use to enhance or facilitate performance; and vehicles for bringing about change. Purposeful activities are seen as part of the process of occupational therapy. Purposeful activities are subset of occupations in that they are goal directed and serve as a major tool in the process of occupational therapy. The term function, viewed as the ability to perform activities required in one's occupations has become increasingly important to society in describing the performance or change in individuals. This societal shift in ideas has prompted the concept of function, viewed as a product, to become more important than the process of bringing about change. Occupational therapy practitioners typically have viewed the process as being just as important as the product. When working to improve function, occupational therapy practitioners use purposeful activities that are meaningful to the person in relation to his or her occupational history, preferences, personal goals, and needs. Occupational therapy practitioners need to keep the individual's occupations in the forefront of their thoughts when using any purposeful activity and to plan interventions toward improving the individual's ability to function within his or her occupations. In the interest of the profession, it is important to concentrate on occupation. Furthermore, it is essential that we study our interventions' relationship to occupation and function, and how purposeful activities are used toward supporting the individual's ability to engage in occupation.