Students' perceptions of role-emerging placements as a learning experience in occupational therapy were explored using qualitative methods. Transcripts of eleven indepth interviews with student participants were analyzed for emerging themes. The students described the placements as contributing to their learning by: providing opportunities for seeing the client as a person; for personal and professional growth; and for role elaboration.The community context and the placement structure were both seen as major contributors to the students' learning. Potential benefits of these placements for the profession were also identified. The findings provide a comprehensive look at the students' perspectives of these placements and indicate that important learning occurs in the role-emerging experience. Most importantly, findings indicate that role-emerging placements provide important opportunities for the development of students as professionals in a climate of health-care reform. The profession should consider role-emerging placements as growth-inducing learning experiences for students. RÉSUMÉCette étude explore à l'aide de méthodes qualitatives dans quelle mesure les élèves perçoivent les stages dans les nouveaux milieux comme des expérience d'apprentissage valables en ergothérapie. À partir de la transcription de onze entrevues élaborées auprès d'élèves ayant participé à ce genre de stage, on a procédé à l'analyse de nouveaux thèmes. Les élèves ont rapporté que les stages ont contribué à leur apprentissage en leur donnant l'occasion de considérer le client comme une personne, en favorisant leur croissance personnelle et en leur permettant de préciser leur rôle. Le contexte de la communauté et la structure du stage ont été perçus comme des points clés de l'apprentissage de l'élève. Les avantages de ces nouveaux secteurs de formation pour la profession ont également été soulignés. Les résultats de cette étude fournissent une vue d'ensemble des perceptions des étudiants sur les stages et ils indiquent que des apprentissages significatifs sont possibles à travers des expériences dans de nouveaux milieux. Ces résultats ont surtout indiqué que les nouveaux secteurs de formation offrent des occasions inestimables pour le développement professionnel des étudiants dans un climat de réforme de la santé. La profession se doit de considérer les stages dans les nouveaux milieux comme des expériences de croissance personnelle et d'apprentissage pour les étudiants.

Occupational therapy practice is based upon the belief that the use of occupation-as-means can promote the health and sense of well-being of individuals with disability. Despite a firm commitment to the construct of occupation by the profession, little empirical evidence has been generated which supports the basic tenets of practice. In the psychosocial literature, no studies could be located which directly investigated the use of occupation-as-means to mental health. An exploratory study was conducted with eight participants of an occupation-based, women's mental health group. In-depth interviews and participant observation were utilized to explore the meaning of occupational engagement for these women. The experience of occupational engagement is presented in the form of a conceptual model named occupational spin-off. Occupational spin-off represents conceptually the experience of occupational engagement for the participants in the research study and describes a process of occupation-as-means to mental health. The processes of affirmation, confirmation, actualization, and anticipation collectively contribute to and maintain occupational spin-off. The process of occupational spin-off contributes to an understanding of why these participants have remained out of hospital, and why they are feeling better. Implications of this process model for clinical practice and future research are suggested.

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Canadian occupational therapists have increasingly adopted a client-centred approach to practice. Interpretation of what "client-centred" means has been diverse and varied. Professionals have written about the characteristics of this approach to care but no reported studies could be found that examined the client's perspective. The omission of the client perspective is puzzling when partnership, client involvement in decision making, and client empowerment are thought to be fundamental elements of this approach to practice. A qualitative research approach, using focus groups was employed to explore the opinions and perspectives of individuals with experience of mental illness and the mental health service delivery system. Seventeen individuals participated in three focus groups to discuss the meaning of a client-centred approach to practice. Participants assessed the inadequacies of past and present practices and recommended needed changes. Their central message was the need for individuals with mental illness to be viewed as valuable human beings by service providers and by society.

The findings of a small qualitative interview study with 8 parents of 6 children with developmental coordination disorder are reported. The parents discussed the social consequences of their children's motor difficulties. The new International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health was used as a framework for the analysis of the interview transcripts. The analysis revealed that the parents believed that their children's impairments restrict their participation in society. The interactions between impairment and participation are interpreted in the context of stigma and its management. The significance of occupational therapy interventions in the area of physical activity play to children's social life is discussed.