Comprehensive Occupational Assessment With Model of Human Occupation (MOHO))

Introduction

This essay comprehensively focuses on exploring the concept of occupational therapy by identifying the nature of occupation, applying occupation therapy using the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), and advocating, fighting, and promoting occupational justice. All these elements will be presented in the essay in an organized manner. The essay introduces the meaning of occupation, as academic scholars explain. Moreover, the role of occupation in occupation therapy is also outlined not only as the work but also as a large structure and impact of productivity, self-care and leisure. It explains the complex nature of occupational therapy, presenting the practical application and use of the MOHO model on a personal level and deep analysis of the occupational model.

The essay’s primary objective is to outline the interconnection between justice, health and occupation; the whole structure is set to ensure all the required objectives have been achieved. The concept promises a deep exploration and analysis of the chosen model, MOHO, on a personal level to ensure that the desired goal has been met and the occupation has been presented meaningfully. In occupational justice, the essay will define the concept of justice, identify any issues of injustice, and propose action steps that can be taken for advocacy. Moreover, the whole essay will use the ideas and concepts of different academic scholars to achieve factuality and credibility.

Occupation

With the availability of occupation therapy, occupation goes beyond work and job notions. It involves many meaningful and purposeful activities and operations that a person engages in throughout life, influencing their identity and well-being. According to Taylor et al. (2023), occupation is a human life domain that includes all activities that individuals do to ensure they are occupied, including taking care of themselves and others, enjoying life and serving and positively contributing to their communities’ economic and social nature.

Felten et al. (2021, p.2195-2217) expand the concept by stating that occupation is a method where individuals express their nature and identity, consume their time and shape their whole lives. They claim that occupation can be broken down into leisure, productivity, and self-care, each having a unique role in an individual’s quality of life and health. In this context, occupation is not merely a profession or job but interrelated and dynamic systems that contribute to the sense of an individual’s fulfilment and purpose. It deeply connects with a person’s mental and physical health (). Understanding occupation in this broad view gives rise to occupation therapy that allows the practitioners to promote the interdependence of clients by addressing not only the physical problems but also cultural, social and environmental factors that impact the individual ability to engage in various daily activities.

Model of Human Occupation (MOHO)

Model of Human Occupation offers an understanding of the occupation framework and the connection between meaningful occupation, environmental elements and personal factors. Using MOHO in relationship to my close friend M will help explore and identify the factors influencing their engagement and participation in an occupation.

Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) was developed and published in 1980 by Gary Kielhofner (Kielhofner 2008, p.1-7). Despite Gary being the primary champion for the model, it involved a collaborative approach with other scholars who devised it together and effortlessly. Thus, MOHO presents the practice, research and ideas of many individuals in the world, thus emerging as one of the globally applied occupational therapy theories. The model explains how different occupations are patterned, motivated and done daily and in the available environment (Kielhofner 2008, p.1-7). According to MOHO, human beings are made up of three key related elements. The first component is volition, which explains the motivation towards specific occupations. Secondly is habituation, which explains how occupation is routinely organized and planned (Taylor et al., 2023). Lastly is performance capacity, which outlines different mental and physical abilities that determine the occupational performance of skilled individuals. Moreover, MOHO insists that to understand various human occupations and the problems faced, knowing about social and physical environments is helpful.

Applying MOHO to my close friend, M, a gardener, and gardening being the meaning of an occupation, will help present and outline different concepts. Focusing on Volition, M manifests a solid motivation towards gardening guided by a genuine passion for plant nurturing and creating an outstanding environment. Her strong desire and motivations go hand in hand with MOHO’s idea of personal motivation to make an occupation successful. M also shows habituation because she has prepared a plan that helps her routinely attend the garden daily. It reflects the MOHO idea of habituation, where there is a requirement to organise the roles and activities that will be carried out in the garden to promote consistency in the activities. Considering and assessing M’s mental and physical abilities, she is skilled with knowledge of horticulture and general skills in weeding and digging. All these have contributed to her success as a gardener and her daily engagement in garden activities. In addition, M activities have shown a deep love and appreciation of the environment and nature by participating in gardening. The environment is a broader perspective under consideration by MOHO.

Furthermore, the Model of Human Occupation analyses different factors influencing M’se M’s ability to participate in gardening. MOHO focuses on the impact that the physical environment has on the occupation. For M, the availability of essential gardening tools and space influences her motivation and engagement in gardening. M participate in community services by sharing her ideas and experience on gardening with other members, showing the effect of social environment on her occupation. The community members also respect her work and encourage her to continue gardening. M gardening activities align with MOHO considerations about cultural factors. Her ability to comfortably participate in gardening has a deep root in their cultural values and norms to protect and appreciate nature. M values encourage her to be an environmental steward and ensure the environment has been covered, as outlined in my MOHO on the concept of volition.

Occupational Analysis

M taking part in gardening shows a clear picture of the application of the model of Human Occupation (MOHO) by presenting model components that shape the occupation. The relationship between all habituation, environmental factors, performance capacity and volition shows an outstanding nature of M’s occupation as a gardener.

M’s desire and motivation in her heart manifest volition, which fuels her passion for loving and nurturing the plants in the environment. Her tireless effort and intrinsic motivation align with MOHO’s idea about volition, which requires personal interest and values to help steer participation in a particular occupation. M, gardening activity is not only an activity but a sign of deep interest and values that have contributed to the fulfilment of gardening.

Habituation has helped to ensure gardening is part of M’s daily activities. She has developed a habitual routine where she does specific activities when she goes to the garden. The plan includes planning, weeding, pruning, planting and watering. It ensures that all the set objectives have been met at the end of the day. The routine routine plan resonates with the habituation idea from MOHO, where actions are frequently organized; they are a habit providing order in all gardening activities. Gardening is now part of M’s daily experience from habitual engagements.

My skill set has shown the power of healthy mental and physical status in performing daily activities. Her vast knowledge of horticulture and her physical fitness have been helpful in ensuring that she has performed activities such as digging, planting, weeding, and taking care of the garden at large without experiencing any hardship. These are outlined by MOHO, which states that there is a need for stable mental and physical health to promote skills and ease an occupation. Moreover, her cognitive abilities have helped in organizing and planning skills to care for the flourishing garden. All these show how the personal capacity for mental and physical health helps in occupation development.

Finally, MOHO’s idea of the environment is beyond only the physical setting. M services in the garden have reflected the environmental features and the role of cultural norms and personal values. With the community having a desire and belief that requires the environment to be protected and maintained, M has adhered to them. In addition, M’s experience in gardening has also been influenced by broad environmental factors such as economic, political and cultural dimensions. MOHO frameworks influence the M occupation as a gardener.

Occupational Justice Advocacy

Occupational justice is part of social justice concerning the intrinsic needs of individuals to act and explore their environment in a method that promotes their health levels and individual safety and care, social participation, pleasure, and subsistence. It is a crucial concept of occupational therapy that goes beyond a person’s ability to participate in a meaningful occupation (Bailliard et al. 2020, p. 144-152). It emphasizes equality regarding resource distribution and opportunity creation, recognizing the effect of political, socio-economic and cultural factors on an individual’s ability to participate in meaningful occupation.

Occupational injustices occur when an individual is excluded or denied a chance to pursue a certain desired meaningful occupation or is forced to take part in an undesirable occupation that risks life or is non-beneficial to life (Hammell 2020, p.378-400). Occupation injustice includes occupational imbalance, occupational deprivation, occupational marginalization and occupational alienation (Lavalley & Johnson 2022, p.487). One of the dominant occupational injustices is the inaccessibility to resources and therapeutic interventions by marginalized individuals. Disparities in rehabilitation and healthcare services create a difference, preventing some individuals from participating in an occupation that is helpful to life.

Occupational therapists play an essential role by advocating and promoting occupational justice and good health. Use the following steps. First, a thorough need evaluation in a specific identified community should be done by looking for any occupational injustices (Felten et al. 2021, p. 2195-2217). The community members from the pollution group should be used to acquire primary data and insight into their needs and experience. The next step for advocacy is raising awareness through seminars, workshops, and community meetings on the usefulness of occupational justice and informing on the available disparities that should be worked on. It is also important to collaborate with different organizations in the community, both private and public, or advocacy groups that promote social justice and good health. The next step is initiating communication-based occupation therapy programs focusing on specific occupational injustices. It can involve telehealth, mobile clinics or financial support (Drolet et al., 2020, p.417). In developing occupation therapy for the community, ensuring that it is culturally competent and sensitive to different community values is helpful. The final step in advocating involves data collection and research, where the data on occupational injustices are gathered in the population and then used to set new plans on how the disparities will be addressed and perform regular evaluations to confirm whether the objective has been met or not.

Conclusion

The occupation remains a large field that focuses on jobs and professions and how individuals present their identity. Applying the Model of Human Occupation, there is a clear picture of how occupation is planned and motivated and how it is performed on a daily basis. The model by Gary Kielhofner presents three essential components of the occupation. They are volition, the primary motivation for any occupation, and habits when an individual organises anises or creates a pattern routine for the daily activities as per the occupation. Finally, performance capacity outlines the mental and physical abilities that help skilled individuals manage their occupations. In addition, the model emphasises that to identify and solve occupation problems, it is essential to understand social and physical environments. With the use of my friend, M, the MOHO has been deeply analysed. Focusing on advocating for occupational justice, occupation justice is participating in occupation activities equally, which helps improve life. However, various occupational injustices such as occupational imbalance, occupational deprivation, occupational marginalization and occupational alienation have been identified. A step-by-step procedure starting with assessing the needs of the population and finally evaluating the set plans is also well elaborated, with the available occupational advocacy, the level of occupation injustices, and the promotion of equality.

References

Bailliard, A.L., Dallman, A.R., Carroll, A., Lee, B.D. and Szendrey, S., 2020. Doing occupational justice: A central dimension of everyday occupational therapy practice. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 87(2), pp.144-152.

Drolet, M.J., Désormeaux-Moreau, M., Soubeyran, M. and Thiébaut, S., 2020. Intergenerational occupational justice: Ethically reflecting on climate crisis. Journal of Occupational Science, 27(3), pp.417-431.

Felten, E., Raj, M. and Seamans, R., 2021. Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), pp.2195-2217.

Hammell, K.W., 2020. Action on the social determinants of health: Advancing occupational equity and occupational rights. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 28, pp.378-400.

Kielhofner, G., 2008. Introduction to the model of human occupation. Model of Human Occupation, Theory and Application, pp.1-9.

Lavalley, R. and Johnson, K.R., 2022. Occupation, injustice, and anti-Black racism in the United States of America. Journal of Occupational Science, 29(4), pp.487-499.

Reitz, S.M., Scaffa, M.E. and Dorsey, J., 2020. Occupational Therapy in the Promotion of Health and Well-Being. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(3).

Taylor, R., Bowyer, P. and Fisher, G., 2023. Kielhofner’s model of human occupation. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.