Occupational harmony: Embracing the complexity of occupational balance

Abstract

Occupational balance is a central concept in occupational science, but it is complex and lacks an agreed-upon definition. Further, the concept has not been given significant attention by scholars outside Western societies. Building upon traditional Chinese culture and Chinese scholars' Human Complex System Theory, this article presents a proposed Model of Occupational Harmony, offering an Eastern understanding of how the orchestration of everyday occupations relates to health and well-being. The notion of occupational harmony highlights harmonious humanenvironment transactions as the essence of the phenomenon and integrates multiple perspectives in previous occupational balance literature, including activity patterns, time use, occupational characteristics, need satisfaction, and biological rhythms. It is asserted that occupational harmony can be characterized as complex equilibria among three pairs of two-sided occupational characteristics and achieved via harmony among five dimensions of occupational engagement and coherence across multiple levels of human-environment transactions. This article is a beginning theoretical conceptualization of occupational harmony, allowing occupational scientists to embrace the complexity of the orchestration of occupational engagement.

(Des)equilibrio Ocupacional como una experiencia colectiva: Relación entre la implementación de medidas sociosanitarias y el desequilibrio ocupacional de estudiantes en internado clínico de Terapia Ocupacional en una Universidad pública de la zona centro

“…Es así como el concepto de equilibrio y desequilibrio ocupacional se hacen presentes en la vida de cada estudiante. Por una parte, el equilibrio ocupacional se expresa como una percepción individual de desempeñar en igual cantidad y calidad de atención las ocupaciones cotidianas, como lo dicho por Liu et al (2021) donde la mayoría de los estudios de equilibrio ocupacional se han hecho en sociedades occidentales, hay un énfasis implícito en el individualismo, lo que conduce a las visiones de equilibrio ocupacional como un fenómeno de conductas y preferencias personales.…”

Applying Concepts of Curriculum Design and Cultural Adaptation: Collaborating on a Dual-Degree Occupational Therapy Program in Mainland China

“…One example of a cultural adaptation stemmed from scholarly work led by one of the inaugural instructors who graduated from the USC master's and OTD programs. To better reflect occupation in the Chinese cultural context, Liu et al developed the model of occupational harmony [ 27 , 28 ], based on traditional Chinese culture and Chinese scholars' human complex system theory [ 29 ], a contrast to the occupational science concept of “occupational balance” [ 30 , 31 ]. The content was added to two courses, Advanced Occupational Science Seminar and Health Promotion and Wellness , wherein OT students at PKUHSC learned about traditional Chinese beliefs on occupation and health and applied the model to practice in their local contexts.…”

Role Value, Occupational Balance, and Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Study on Exploring the Urban Older People Perspective in South Korea

“…He argues that it is related to life satisfaction [ 10 ]. A state in which time use is properly allocated to productive activities, leisure time, and self-management is defined as a good occupational balance state [ 11 ]. Hence, a well-balanced life is achieved by properly distributing psychological and physical energy, while aligning lifetime with oneself and properly dividing and using occupation areas [ 12 ].…”