Can Occupational Therapy Address the Occupational Implications of Hoarding?

Abstract

Hoarding is often described as a medical disorder, defined by a persistent difficulty in discarding possessions and associated high levels of emotional distress when forced to part with these. This article will discuss how having a different view of hoarding, seeing hoarding as a daily occupation which provides value, purpose, and meaning and with a relationship to self-identity and life purpose, could offer alternate interventions to support an individual who hoards. The article will consider the components of hoarding activity and how these relate to health and wellbeing and doing, being, belonging, and becoming as understood by occupational therapists. The article will consider what occupational therapy, a profession which considers a person’s daily occupations, the things that occupy their time and which give meaning to their existence, could offer as an alternative to current hoarding interventions. Proposals for occupational therapy interventions will be suggested which would support occupational choice, support engagement in activities which have more positive outcomes on a person’s health, and seek to address barriers which limit engagement and occupational performance in activities within the person’s home environment.

Book of Abstracts

“…It is therefore likely that occupational therapists will encounter a person who hoards in their clinical practice. However, there is limited evidence on the occupational therapy role in this area (Clarke 2019).…”

Evaluation of an educational programme for people who have difficulty decluttering and organising: A randomised controlled trial in Japan

“…tabletops, floor, hallway)’. Difficulty tidying up is another symptom of hoarding (International OCD Foundation, 2021), and some authors have linked hoarding disorders to deficits in information processing, including difficulty organising and categorising objects (Clarke, 2019; Steketee & Frost, 2003) and frontal lobe dysfunction (McMillan et al., 2013; Woody et al., 2014).…”

Commentary on: Sy, Bontje, Ohshima & Kiepek. Articulating the form, function, and meaning of drug using in the Philippines from the lens of morality and work ethics

“…in the link between health and occupation, which marks the growth of occupational science and therapy research and scholarly activity, especially over the past decade (e.g. Clarke, 2019;Kay & Brewis, 2016;Nhunzvi, Galvaan, & Peters, 2017). The enthusiasm for doing so, to us, can be easily explained: The reality, as Sy and colleagues illustrate, is that people do things that are not always healthy, or that may be perceived to be somewhat dull, uninteresting, complex, risky, damaging, deviant, and even just downright "messy" (Kantartzis, 2019;Twinley, 2017) or "dirty" (Ralph, 2019).…”