Moving beyond the individual: Occupational therapists' multi-layered work with communities

Abstract

Introduction Although working with communities using community-centred approaches like community development has been identified as an important occupational therapy domain of practice, occupational therapists continue to struggle to clarify their roles and processes in this area of practice. From a study that aimed to describe the practice process of occupational therapists working in community development, this article presents key findings regarding how occupational therapists described their work with individuals and communities, providing a conceptualization of how to situate their work with individuals within a broad community context. Method Using interpretive description, individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted via telephone with 12 occupational therapists from across Canada between February 2014 and March 2015. Results There was some uncertainty amongst participants regarding the definition of community development. Four layers of community-centred practice were inductively derived from the data: individual, group, community of interest, and systems. The latter two touch on community development. Conclusion The conceptualization that emerged from this study can assist occupational therapists in reflecting on current practice and furthering an appreciation of how their work with individuals can include a community focus, responding to calls within the profession to look beyond the individual.