Health Promotion and Community Development: An application of Occupational Therapy in Primary Health Care

Abstract

This paper shares the experiences of 3 occupational therapists whose work has been guided by health promotion and mental health promotion principles while using community development strategies. Although health promotion has been lauded for over 2 decades as a useful model from which to practice community occupational therapy, few illustrations of its application to practice exist. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion is reviewed as a starting point from which to frame mental health promotion and community development strategies. Two group programs are presented to illustrate an occupational therapy application of the health promotion model and community development strategies within a primary health care setting. Lessons learned from the therapists' work are shared in terms of conceptual understandings of community occupations, consumer barriers to participation, sustainability of community development projects, and balancing individual client issues with community-level interventions. The programs exemplify the role of occupational therapy in the development of community participation opportunities for interested individuals.

Examining an occupational perspective in a rural Canadian age‐friendly consultation process

“…Occupational therapists working at the community level are engaged in a partnership, where the occupational therapist is only one of many partners. Consequently, the occupational therapist's role will shift throughout the project's duration, with the therapist as part of the process rather than leading it (Lauckner et al, 2011;Restall et al, 2003;Trentham et al, 2007). Although the CPPF intends to be flexible enough to apply to diverse practice settings, explicitly identifying that a different type of relationship exists in community development can assist occupational therapists in negotiating these partnerships.…”

“…This project's participatory approaches aimed to create change at the community level, and also to sanction people to act collectively, thus creating valuable opportunities for meaningful engagement in collective occupations as part of the process (Leclair, ; Ripat et al . ; Trentham, Cockburn & Shin, ). Regular meetings, collective decision‐making processes and shared planning of a housing exposition – all of which occurred during the project – can be regarded as collective occupations.…”

“…For example, the participatory manner of the age-friendly process helped to stimulate community members' contributions to the planning and implementation of community and health services (Ripat, Redmond & Grabowecky, 2010). This project's participatory approaches aimed to create change at the community level, and also to sanction people to act collectively, thus creating valuable opportunities for meaningful engagement in collective occupations as part of the process (Leclair, 2010;Ripat et al;Trentham, Cockburn & Shin, 2007). Regular meetings, collective decision-making processes and shared planning of a housing expositionall of which occurred during the projectcan be regarded as collective occupations.…”

Are health promotion and prevention interventions integrated into occupational therapy practice with older adults having disabilities? Insights from six community health settings in Québec, Canada

“…To help improve community occupational therapy practice, PHC services must make their health promotion obligations an operational priority (CDC, ; Baum et al ., ). Moreover, occupational therapists need to be informed about health promotion strategies and encouraged to advocate for their unique position in community actions (Trentham et al ., ) and non‐traditional roles in health promotion (Wood et al., ).…”

“…Currently, little is known about community occupational therapy practice with older adults having disabilities, especially from a health promotion perspective (Trentham, Cockburn & Shin, ). Despite Canada's leadership in developing population health promotion initiatives on a conceptual level (e.g.…”