COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

This is an emerging area of practice that has huge potential for an occupational therapist to utilize their skills. Occupational therapy is a client centered profession that has a primary goal of enabling people to participate in activities of daily life. Occupational therapists believe that the abilities of a person, the characteristics of the environment and the task all interact to support or limit the person's ability to carry out daily activities. Occupational therapists employ a holistic view. They offer a unique way of looking at community needs, assets and resources by analysing people, performance contexts, tasks and activities that may support or hinder health(Watson & Wilson 2008). This can be very important in community development as communities can be quite complex. Community development occurs at the community level, responds to community-identified priorities, and emphasizes empowerment and capacity building. This is done by community groups identifying health issues of their community, and planning and acting for social action/social change. The result of this is increased community self-reliance and decision-making power by empowering the community and making it stronger. (Labonte, 2004, p. 90) By addressing the health issues and concerns of a community, it is enabling better opportunities for the people that live within it to engage in occupations by addressing things that may improve the communities access and ability to engage in occupations. (Lauckner, Pentland, & Paterson, 2007, p. 319 Check out the edible Bus stop network in the U.K: A pop-up park in Dandenong, Australia. The following link looks at ways to create a more inclusive community: REFERENCES: Labonte, R. (2004).Community, community development, and the forming of authentic partnerships: Some critical reflections.In M. Minkler (Ed.),Community organizing and community building for health(2nd ed., pp. 88-102). New Brunswick, NJ:Rutgers. Lauckner, H., Pentland, W., & Paterson, M. (2007). Exploring Canadian occupational therapists’ understanding of and experiences in community development. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74, 314-325. doi: 10.2182/cjot.07.005. Watson, D. & Wilson, S. A. (2008). Task analysis: An individual approach (2nd ed.) Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press.